President Donald Trump has signed a bill that imposes sanctions on Russia for alleged interference in our presidential election and on Iran and North Korea for their missile programs. However, in a signing statement, Trump called the bill “significantly flawed.”
From ABC News:
The bill limits the president’s ability to lift or waive sanctions against Russia and keeps in place sanctions the Obama administration imposed last year. It also allows the U.S. to deny entry and revoke visas for individuals who have engaged in certain activities, such as selling arms to the Syrian government or abusing human rights.Before the bill was signed, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that neither he nor the president approved of the sanctions, believing they hinder the administration’s attempts to restore relations with Russia.”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 Tuesday. “We were clear that we didn’t think it was going to be helpful to our efforts.
Here is Trump’s statement about the bill:
Trump claimed that “Congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions.” These include encroachment on executive authority and possible harm to U.S. businesses and allies we have:
“By limiting the Executive’s flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together,” Trump said in a statement on Wednesday morning. “The Framers of our Constitution put foreign affairs in the hands of the President.””This bill will prove the wisdom of that choice,” he added.
Despite his concerns, Trump explained that he signed the bill for “national unity.”
The European Union has insisted it will retaliate if this new sanctions bill hurts any European companies.
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