Days before Congress's Russia penalties kick in, Trump carves out big exceptions in the name of national interest
The story
President Trump has used his own authority to hold back a number of sanctions on Russia that Congress passed to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
In an executive order signed Friday night, he said blocking some of the measures serves the country's national interests. The law, which he signed in September, is set to take effect this weekend.
The sanctions law is named after the late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Ukraine's strongest backers in Washington. It lets the president put tariffs as high as 100% on the five biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas, mainly China and India. It also targets Vladimir Putin, top Russian officials, banks, and the so called shadow fleet of tankers Russia uses to slip around existing sanctions.
The move comes just days after Trump said the US would buy Russian diesel to bring down fuel prices ahead of the November midterms. That plan already drew pushback from both parties, and on Thursday a group of 20 lawmakers wrote to him asking that the law be carried out fully and without delay.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the diesel deal a gift to Putin. Allies worry the new waivers could ease the pressure on Russia even more.
