President Donald Trump has handed Russia an economic lifeline days before a punishing crackdown on Moscow’s war chest was set to begin.
Trump signed an executive order Friday night exempting Russia from penalties laid out in the Graham Act, The New York Times and the Associated Press reported. The law, named for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who died in July, was scheduled to take effect Sunday.
The measure aimed to hit Russian officials, oligarchs and banks in an effort to choke off the money funding Moscow’s war on Ukraine. It also handed Trump fresh tariff powers, including the ability to slap up to 100 percent levies on countries buying Russian oil and gas and up to 500 percent on Russian goods entering the U.S., per The Times.
“I am hereby waiving the application of such sanctions, restrictions and duties provided for in the Graham Act,” Trump wrote in the order, adding that he had certified to Congress that the waiver serves “the national interests of the United States.”
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