President Trump reluctantly signed a bill imposing new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, calling some of the provisions in the legislation “clearly unconstitutional” and still managing to rankle Moscow in the process.
Trump blasted the bill as “significantly flawed” — mostly because it limits his power.
He said he chose to sign the papers anyway “for the sake of national unity.”
The bill punishes Russia for its attempts to interfere in last year’s election, and also slaps sanctions on North Korea and Iran for human rights violations.
It includes provisions restricting Trump from lifting the sanctions without congressional support — which obviously maddened a man who sees himself as a master businessman.
“I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected,” Trump said in his statement. “As President, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress.”
The President wasn’t the only one who took umbrage with the bill.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the sanctions tantamount to a “full-scale trade war,” adding in a Facebook post that they showed the Trump administration had demonstrated “utter powerlessness.”
The House and Senate both passed the measure last week with nearly complete bipartisan support.
Russian President Vladimir Putin with President Trump. (EVAN VUCCI/AP)
Despite Trump’s objections, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised the new law.
“Today, the United States sent a powerful message to our adversaries that they will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
“These sanctions directly target the destructive and destabilizing activities of Iran, Russia and North Korea.”
While Congress has stalled on most major legislation so far under Trump, this was one of the few bills to draw strong approval from both parties.
The wall of support made clear that a potential Trump veto would not stand.
The President pushed back on early attempts to pass the bill, while he has continued shrugging off U.S. intelligence findings about Russia attacking the election to help his campaign.
Trump has blasted his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for doing “nothing” about Russia’s actions, but never announced his own intentions to repudiate the Kremlin.
His administration, however, did throw sanctions on Russia in June as retaliation for its aggressive military actions in Ukraine.
The bill ruffled feathers in Moscow, even as Trump has called for closer relations with the Kremlin.
After Congress passed the sanctions bill, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired back by cutting 755 U.S. diplomatic jobs in his country, reducing the American staff to only a few hundred members.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “retaliatory measures already have been taken,” and there would be no further punishments on the U.S.
As of Wednesday night, Trump — usually quick to lash out at slights — had made no comment about Russia’s anti-U.S. move.
The President waited nearly a week to sign the sanctions bill, and he did so only after Secretary of State Tillerson made clear that neither of them approved of it.
“The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the President nor I were very happy about that,” Tillerson told reporters on Tuesday.
Tillerson has been as hesitant as Trump to take action against Russia. Politico reported Wednesday that he has been sitting on nearly $80 million reserved for the State Department to combat cyberattacks from Russia, as well as terrorist organizations.
Trump blasted the bill as “significantly flawed” — mostly because it limits his power.
He said he chose to sign the papers anyway “for the sake of national unity.”
The bill punishes Russia for its attempts to interfere in last year’s election, and also slaps sanctions on North Korea and Iran for human rights violations.
It includes provisions restricting Trump from lifting the sanctions without congressional support — which obviously maddened a man who sees himself as a master businessman.
“I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected,” Trump said in his statement. “As President, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress.”
The President wasn’t the only one who took umbrage with the bill.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called the sanctions tantamount to a “full-scale trade war,” adding in a Facebook post that they showed the Trump administration had demonstrated “utter powerlessness.”
The House and Senate both passed the measure last week with nearly complete bipartisan support.
Russian President Vladimir Putin with President Trump. (EVAN VUCCI/AP)
Despite Trump’s objections, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) praised the new law.
“Today, the United States sent a powerful message to our adversaries that they will be held accountable for their actions,” he said.
“These sanctions directly target the destructive and destabilizing activities of Iran, Russia and North Korea.”
While Congress has stalled on most major legislation so far under Trump, this was one of the few bills to draw strong approval from both parties.
The wall of support made clear that a potential Trump veto would not stand.
The President pushed back on early attempts to pass the bill, while he has continued shrugging off U.S. intelligence findings about Russia attacking the election to help his campaign.
Trump has blasted his predecessor, President Barack Obama, for doing “nothing” about Russia’s actions, but never announced his own intentions to repudiate the Kremlin.
His administration, however, did throw sanctions on Russia in June as retaliation for its aggressive military actions in Ukraine.
The bill ruffled feathers in Moscow, even as Trump has called for closer relations with the Kremlin.
After Congress passed the sanctions bill, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired back by cutting 755 U.S. diplomatic jobs in his country, reducing the American staff to only a few hundred members.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “retaliatory measures already have been taken,” and there would be no further punishments on the U.S.
As of Wednesday night, Trump — usually quick to lash out at slights — had made no comment about Russia’s anti-U.S. move.
The President waited nearly a week to sign the sanctions bill, and he did so only after Secretary of State Tillerson made clear that neither of them approved of it.
“The action by the Congress to put these sanctions in place and the way they did, neither the President nor I were very happy about that,” Tillerson told reporters on Tuesday.
Tillerson has been as hesitant as Trump to take action against Russia. Politico reported Wednesday that he has been sitting on nearly $80 million reserved for the State Department to combat cyberattacks from Russia, as well as terrorist organizations.
