Episode Details

Silicon Bites Ep416 | 2026-10-09 | Primarily, he’s working for himself of course. But in serving his own ends, Trump is now overtly helping the enemy to win their genocidal war. After a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump announces Russia will pump millions of tonnes of diesel into American and global markets. Within minutes, the US Treasury issues a general licence to make it legal. Putin asks for sanctions relief — trump delivered. Is there any calculus behind this other than wanton appeasement of a murderous dictator? Does Trump believe that Russia’s miniscule contribution to the flows of diesel onto global markets will have any impact on prices? Because it’s unlikely to do that. What it does do, is use the U.S.’s authority to launder Russian blood diesel and create the optics of rehabilitation for a country that should be a pariah. ----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.org----------SOURCES:Kyiv Independent — "Trump says Russia agreed to supply millions of tons of diesel to US, global markets" (9 Oct 2026)ANI on X, reproducing Trump's full Truth Social post (9 Oct 2026)CNBC — "Trump strikes deal with Putin to supply Russian diesel to U.S. and global markets" (9 Oct 2026)AP via US News — "Trump Says US to Get Diesel From Russia, Relaxing Pressure on Moscow…" (9 Oct 2026)US Treasury (@USTreasury) on X (9 Oct 2026)NBC News — "Trump eases Russia sanctions, says Putin will release diesel amid massive price spikes" (9 Oct 2026)Kyiv Independent — "Exclusive: Putin puts a price on Trump's Ukraine energy truce — Kyiv fears the cost" (9 Oct 2026)The Moscow Times — "Trump Signs Sweeping Russia Sanctions Bill" (19 Sep 2026)Baker Botts — "President Trump Signs Graham Sanctions Act" (Sep 2026)AOL / The Hill — "Zelensky, Merz speak out against US easing Russia oil sanctions" (Mar 2026, background)AOL — "Zelensky furious with Trump as 30-day Russia waiver…" (Mar 2026, background)OFAC — Russia-related General License 134A (19 Mar 2026, background)----------