House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Donald Trump is a Putin super fan. He said he cannot be trusted to do the right thing in defense of Ukraine. He posted the statement on Wednesday with a video clip of his Sept. 16 House floor speech. A full transcript of the remarks is on his congressional site.
“Donald Trump is a Putin super fan. He cannot be trusted to do the right thing in defense of Ukraine. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Jeffries wrote Wednesday. The post includes a video of the earlier floor remarks. No matching release appeared on his site that day. The characterizations are his.
The floor remarks are on the record. On Sept. 16 Jeffries spoke on the House floor in opposition to legislation. He said the manner in which the bill was written does not require the president to impose sanctions on Russia and that so many loopholes are written into the bill that it is very unlikely the sanctions relief contemplated will ever see the light of day. He said House Democrats will continue to stand up for the Ukrainian people. A release on his site carries the full remarks. The Wednesday post uses a clip from those remarks. It does not quote the loophole language in the text.
The diesel license is the recent document. The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135 on Oct. 9. The license text authorizes defined Russian-origin diesel transactions through April 7, 2027. The Graham Act, signed Sept. 18 as Public Law 119-111, expands sanctions. No certification of Russian cessation of hostilities is on a White House page. Jeffries’ post does not cite the license or the act. It addresses trust in defense of Ukraine.
Jeffries has previously called for Hegseth’s departure and addressed other subjects. Those posts are on his account. The Wednesday post does not cite them. It is limited to the Putin characterization and the trust claim, accompanied by the earlier floor clip.
No White House release posted this week responds to the post or addresses the characterization. The floor remarks remain the extended record of his position on the legislation. The X post applies the “Putin super fan” and trust language to the current moment.
Other members have addressed the diesel license and reported reductions in support to Ukraine this week. Those posts are on their accounts. Jeffries’ post does not cite them. It does not mention Starshield, intelligence sharing, or a specific dollar figure.
“Putin super fan” and “cannot be trusted to do the right thing in defense of Ukraine” are Jeffries’. The Wednesday post, the Sept. 16 floor remarks on his site, the Oct. 9 license, and the absence of a certification under the Graham Act are the records. The gap is between a House leader applying those characterizations to the president and the absence of a same-day White House response or a published certification on a government page.