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Trump exempted Russia from sanctions to ease pressure on oil prices but expected Putin to respond, sparking cross-party anger in Congress and Republican calls for an investigation into whether he was secretly aiding Moscow.
The New York Times reported that the President of the United Statestrump An executive order was issued late on the 16th to grant relaxationRussia New round of sanctions on Russian President!Putin Returning the favor would help ease the pressure of rising energy prices in the United States and prevent high oil prices from impacting the Republican Party’s midterm elections on November 3. The move triggered a strong cross-party reaction in Congress, and even Republican lawmakers publicly called for an investigation into whether Trump was secretly supporting Putin. However, because the sanctions bill gives the President broad discretion, it may be difficult for Congress to counter it in the short term. In future, when the meeting resumes after the elections, the focus will be on whether the MPs will take further action.
The Trump administration announced just a week ago that it would lift restrictions on Russian diesel exports, and now it has exempted it from the Russia sanctions bill passed by Congress in September, triggering a strong cross-party reaction in Congress.
On the Democratic side, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump for “providing life support for the Russian economy, making their deal with the devil even dirtier.” Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal charged that the sanctions relief has nothing to do with US national security and is solely to appease Putin, and called on Republican lawmakers to jointly condemn it.
Republicans also criticized mercilessly. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina condemned the decision as “grossly irresponsible. What part of a law passed by the Senate with a vote of 86 to 11 cannot be understood by the President and his staff?” He emphasized that if Trump really wanted to lower energy prices, he could solve the Iran problem instead of doing Putin a big favor.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn posted a message on social media on the 17th, clearly stating that “Congress should investigate Trump’s aid and support to Putin.” Arkansas Representative French Hill revealed that he has asked the government to hold a confidential briefing on the reasons for the exemption decision.
Outgoing Republican Congressman Don Bacon warned that a series of Trump’s policy agendas, including the supplemental budget, the budget reconciliation process, and the White House ballroom plan “can’t get anything done.” He bluntly stated that many lawmakers would be unwilling to finance these projects because Trump is “supporting a dictator’s war of aggression and betraying his allies.”
The bill, named after the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, was originally intended to impose sanctions on Russian officials, oligarchs and financial institutions and to authorize the President to impose higher tariffs on Russian energy buyers. However, it also retained an exemption clause, allowing the President to write to Congress asking for an exemption from sanctions on the grounds that it was not in the “national interest”. Trump has not yet used the tariff powers granted by the bill.
Adam M. Smith, former senior advisor to the director of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), said that previous presidents have always disliked being hampered by Congress’s coercive measures, but Trump surprised him this time too by not imposing any new sanctions. He believes that, combined with the previous relaxation of sanctions on Russian diesel exports, various actions could force the outside world to question whether the United States is isolating Ukraine and turning to Moscow.
Alex Zurdan, a former official in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said Trump’s actions still appear to be in compliance with the legal provisions of the sanctions bill. However, given that Congress has previously supported cross-party sanctions on Russia, and now the White House is seeking economic aid from Moscow, the political calculations behind this are puzzling.
During the previous Biden administration, the United States took action against more than 1,000 Russian sanctions targets and joined forces with its allies to impose price limits on Russian oil. In comparison, the Trump administration has a relatively lenient attitude toward the implementation of many existing sanctions, and has so far only imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two major oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft.
Summary FAQ
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The report reported that Trump hopes Russia will cooperate to ease the pressure of rising energy prices in the United States and prevent high oil prices from affecting the Republican Party’s November 3 midterm elections. Therefore, they have suspended new sanctions and hope that Putin will respond.
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The Democratic Party criticized the move as a blood transfusion to the Russian economy; Republican senators Tillis and Cornyn were also openly dissenting, believing that Trump was irresponsible and also demanding an investigation into whether he was supporting Putin.
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Because the sanctions bill in question gives the President himself quite broad discretion and immunity, he can be exempted from the sanctions as long as he writes a letter to Congress clarifying this. Therefore, even if the response is vigorous, it will be difficult for the Congress to immediately stop it in the short term.
