Several US lawmakers and politicians have accused President Donald Trump of “surrendering” to Russian President Vladimir Putin after he signed an executive order waiving sweeping sanctions and tariffs aimed at Russia’s energy revenues.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who helped draft the Lindsey Graham Act along with late Senator Lindsey Graham, said Trump was turning his back on “the majority of Americans, their representatives in both houses of Congress, and our European allies.”
Trump signed an executive order waiving the sweeping new sanctions package targeting Russia’s economy, telling Congress that the pause was in the national interest. The President had signed the legislation only last month.
Republican Representative Don Bacon criticised Trump’s decision, saying the US President was “prolonging the war, not ending it”. Democratic Representative Don Beyer called the move Trump’s “latest surrender to Putin”. He said it “defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression. California Governor Gavin Newsom also reacted to Trump’s decision, saying that “someone” was getting “paid by Putin” in response to a social media post about the move. Democratic Representative said Trump was “Putin’s puppet” in her reaction to the decision.
His decision came two days before the deadline set by the law for implementing the measures.
