Trump exempts Russia from Graham-Blumenthal sanctions — SkimNews
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- Trump signed an executive order exempting Russia from the Graham-Blumenthal bill's sanctions, waiving the planned 500% tariff on Russian goods and 100% tariffs on the top five importers and facilitators of Russian oil
- Trump also waived the bill's monitoring clause, eliminating the tool meant to track Russian compliance on these issues
- The Graham-Blumenthal bill was always a 'shell game' according to the author, because Trump held ultimate power over whether sanctions would ever be applied, meaning the bill could never have been used to hurt Russia or China
- The executive order came less than three weeks before US midterm elections, following two other pro-Putin moves that week: a Russian diesel purchase and a Starlink/SpaceX freeze limiting Ukrainian military operations
- The bill's text actually put China at greatest risk of sanctions, but Trump will never use it against Beijing either, the author argues
- The political upside is that forcing Trump to take a visibly pro-Putin step before midterms may further damage GOP prospects, especially as government corruption has become the top concern among American voters
Why it matters: Trump used a bipartisan sanctions bill designed to punish Russia as a vehicle to protect Putin instead, blocking 500% tariffs and even the monitoring mechanism. The timing — three weeks before midterms and paired with a Russian diesel deal and Starlink restrictions on Ukraine — gives congressional critics a fresh political cudgel against Republicans running in November.
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