Washington — President Trump is getting bipartisan blowback over his surprise decision to waive new sanctions on Russia two days before they were to go into effect.
Congress approved the bipartisan legislation — championed by the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who died before it was passed — and it was signed into law by Mr. Trump on Sept. 18. It also comes as a blow to Graham’s legacy, given that the senator, a close friend of Mr. Trump, pushed the legislation as one of his final acts.
But Mr. Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Ukraine, and on Monday criticized Ukraine, even as Russia continues to strike civilian sites in Ukraine. “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine, they haven’t been doing much,” the president told reporters on the White House South Lawn Monday. He added, “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine, they’ve given us nothing.”
In its most recent strikes, Russia recently hit Ukraine energy and infrastructure, as well as a medical clinic, school, metro station and residential buildings, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
The economic restrictions were intended to penalize top Russian figures and the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas as the U.S. seeks to end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s four-year war in Ukraine. But the legislation gives Mr. Trump the authority to waive parts of the law if he certifies to Congress that halting the sanctions is “in the national interests of the United States.”
The Trump administration is facing intense pressure to act to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
“I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions, and duties provided for in the Graham Act,” Mr. Trump said in an executive order issued Friday. “I have submitted to the Congress a certification that the issuance of such a waiver at this time is in the national interests of the United States.”
The order did not explain Mr. Trump’s decision, which came a week after the president eased sanctions on Russia’s energy sector and announced a deal with Putin to import diesel to the U.S. market.
“Beyond irresponsible,” GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said of the president’s latest move, calling it “unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and butchers innocent civilians every single day.”
“If the president wants to actually bring down energy prices, he can do it by solving the Iran problem, not by doing a solid for Vladimir Putin,” Tillis added.
The 300,000 tons of diesel the U.S. is buying from Russia is about 2.2 million barrels — and that’s just over half the 4.1 million barrels of diesel the U.S. uses in a single day. And since Ukraine has damaged much of Russia’s refining capacity, it’s unclear when Russia would be able to deliver the fuel. Experts say the deal with Russia will not offset the disruptions to oil supplies resulting from the Iran war.
GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas agrees and said of the sanction waiver, “Lindsey would be appalled.”
“Helping Putin in Ukraine is reckless,” Cornyn said. “He would not stop with Ukraine and our NATO allies would be next. Putin is fanatically committed to restoring Russia’s glory days, calling the collapse of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” and claiming Russia was “robbed” in the breakup.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that he shared his colleagues’ position, arguing that “capitulating to a bully generally means they’re going to make more demands going forward.”
“That’s the problem with taking sort of a business negotiation approach to negotiating with a thug, which is what Vladimir Putin is,” he said.
Several House Republicans also railed against the president’s move.
“The president is prolonging the war, not ending it,” GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska wrote Friday. On Saturday, Bacon added that Mr. Trump’s “agenda is dead.”
“The President has an agenda: supplemental, reconciliation, Ballroom, etc.,” Bacon wrote. “Many of us won’t fund these things knowing he is propping up a dictator’s invasion and throwing an ally under the bus.”
GOP Rep. Michael McCaul, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged Mr. Trump to reconsider.
“Time and again, we have seen how Putin responds to American concessions: with contempt for the United States and increased violence against innocent Ukrainians,” he said Saturday.
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the waiver should come as no surprise. Meeks had argued against the bill’s passage, saying it would expand the presidential tariff authorities.
“He has had the power to sanction Russia for years. What he lacks is the will,” Meeks said in a statement Saturday.
“By giving the Russian economy life support, Trump’s deal with the devil keeps getting dirtier,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who represents New York, said in a separate statement.
The president’s decision to waive Russia sanctions was also met with immediate criticism and concern from Zelenskyy. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump said Ukraine should “get a new leader.”
Zelenskyy told reporters last week he thinks the president’s actions that contradict the intent of the Lindsey Graham Act would continue, “unfortunately.”
“It’s unfortunate because we all had great respect for Lindsey,” Zelenskyy said. “He devoted his life to America. We had an excellent relationship with him. And shortly before the tragedy, Lindsey was in Ukraine. He always supported us very strongly and pushed for as much assistance to Ukraine as possible. It’s difficult without him, I’ll be honest. I want to thank both Democrats and Republicans who supported his bill. That was a major victory: this truly bipartisan support. And now, the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me. And it definitely helps only the Russians.”
On Sunday, Mr. Trump sought to explain the sanctions waiver by saying he didn’t want to drive Russia away from the negotiating table.
“My decision on Russia is a very simple one,” he wrote on Truth Social in the face of rising public criticism. “I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.”
But Mr. Trump has long touted a friendlier relationship with Putin, a departure from all of his predecessors. New photos of Mr. Trump with both Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping adorn the White House’s Palm Room, where reporters exit and enter the White House to see the president’s take off and land from Marine One.
Mr. Trump has blasted Ukraine for striking diesel refineries in Russia. He has called on both Ukraine and Russia to end the war, although Russia started it, and could end the war by withdrawing all occupying troops and stopping its attacks.
Mr. Trump is facing political pressure to lower gas prices, two weeks out from midterm elections in which Republicans are expected to struggle. The cost of living and gas prices remain top issues for voters, with the Iran war driving up gas and diesel prices and pushing overall inflation higher, too. Mr. Trump has claimed the war will end once the midterm elections are over, although it’s unclear how, and that gas prices will drop precipitously then.
At the same time, Ukrainian officials have recently been reporting difficulties with Starlink, the commercial satellite network owned by SpaceX’s Elon Musk, and Starshield, the military version built on the same network.
Zelenskyy said over the weekend that the throttling of Starshield network speeds has meant that Ukraine has been unable to use its interceptors to shoot down Russian Shahed drones, has prompted questions about who was behind the slowdown. Mr. Trump on Friday denied he had limited Ukraine’s access to Starlink, and added he didn’t believe Musk was responsible either.
Musk said last Wednesday he isn’t responsible for deciding how Starshield is used, writing on X: “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also told reporters Saturday that the administration had “nothing to do with that.”
On Monday, Mr. Trump said he didn’t know who ordered the interruption, “but I’d like to find out.”
The explanations haven’t satisfied a number of lawmakers, including some Republicans.
Last week, a bipartisan group of nine senators, including Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, John Cornyn of Texas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, asked the Defense Department inspector general to investigate. They asked the IG to look into “whether actions or decisions by the Department of Defense or its contractors contributed to these dangerous circumstances.”
“Any restrictions on these capabilities, particularly without advance notification, raise serious questions about the Department of Defense’s contractual oversight and its responsibility to ensure continuity of essential services,” the senators wrote in the letter.
Cramer and GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio also joined growing calls for a congressional investigation into the move on “Face the Nation” Sunday.
“There needs to be an investigation; we need to find out who these people are because lives are at risk and lives are lost over these things,” Turner said.
Tillis and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut hosted a video call with Zelenskyy Monday, and said he confirmed that “critical Starlink services remain degraded,” impeding Ukraine’s ability to intercept Russian drones. The senators said Zelenskyy also reported disruptions to U.S. intelligence sharing regarding early warning of Russian ballistic missile launches.
The pair said Zelenskyy also raised “serious concerns” about critical air defense interceptor delays and Mr. Trump’s decision to waive sanctions against Russia.
“Trying to appease a murderous thug like Vladimir Putin will only prolong this war and bring greater casualties,” Tillis and Blumenthal said.