U.S. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), a retired Air Force brigadier general, blasted President Donald Trump for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, accusing the president of being manipulated by the Russian leader and warning that his administration could lose Republican support in Congress.
“Trump supports the Dictator Putin and opposes Ukraine,” Bacon wrote Wednesday on X, before asking: “Why does Trump love Putin?”
Trump supports the Dictator Putin and opposes Ukraine who wants our freedom and Independence. Ukraine loves America freedoms. Putin hates it. Why does Trump love Putin?
— Rep. Don Bacon
(@RepDonBacon) October 15, 2026
The Nebraska Republican, who is retiring from Congress in January, has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s Russia policy. But his latest attacks have taken a decidedly personal turn.
“He’s an apologist for Putin and the Russian invasion. It’s an embarrassment,” Bacon said, after Trump responded to reports of Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities by pointing to earlier Ukrainian attacks on Russian targets.
Bacon also accused Putin of playing the American president “like never seen before to a U.S. President.”
In an interview with the conservative National Review, Bacon was even less restrained.
“I have righteous anger, and it’s palpable anger on this whole thing,” he said. “I can’t believe we’ve got a president that is literally kissing Putin’s ass. He’s a Republican. Ronald Reagan’s rolling around in his grave.”
Bacon’s anger comes as Trump has eased restrictions on Russian diesel exports, arguing that additional fuel supplies will help lower prices during the war with Iran.
The deal has also drawn opposition from Republican Senators Thom Tillis (NC), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Mitch McConnell (KY), John Cornyn (TX) and Alan Armstrong (OK), who joined six Democrats in demanding that Trump reverse the arrangement.
“This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded,” the senators wrote in a bipartisan letter. Tillis separately questioned whether the agreement was legal under existing restrictions on Russian energy imports.
Reuters reported that the administration defended the decision as a way to ease fuel costs.
Bacon has also condemned reports of reduced U.S. intelligence sharing with Ukraine and restrictions affecting the Starlink satellite connections Ukrainian forces use for military operations.
“The Administration’s decision to reduce intel sharing to Ukraine & access to Starlink equates to aiding the invader & the war criminal who bombs cities,” he wrote.
Ukrainian officials reported disruptions to drone missions after new limitations were imposed on the service.
Bacon’s criticism aligns with that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told Piers Morgan Uncensored this week that Trump was choosing Russia’s side rather than Ukraine’s.
“It’s painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side,” Zelensky said. He added that Ukraine could accept Trump working from the middle, but that “you have to stay in the middle, not on the wrong side.”
Bacon suggested Trump’s moves would cause the president problems with Congress going forward.
“Does the Administration think it will get ANY support for the remainder of the 119th Congress?” the congressman asked, predicting: “Their agenda is dead unless they change paths.”