It took almost a year for Sen. Lindsey O. Graham Jr. to persuade Donald Trump to agree to the Russian sanctions package, notes the Associated Press.
It took a relative moment to destroy it, ignoring an overwhelming vote in Congress to ignore a newly passed law as it was about to take effect on Sunday.
The measure, designed to impose steep tariffs on countries that import large amounts of Russian oil and energy products, and was promoted to help halt the flow of funds fueling Vladimir’s Putin’s four-year war against Ukraine – and to support U.S. diplomatic efforts in seeking an end to the war with Iran, amid reports that Russia has been helping Iran to target U.S. service members.
By Monday, The Wall Street Journal was reporting that Trump is hearing a proposal to settle the Russia-Ukraine at a summit with Russia and China, ignoring Ukraine altogether.
What Trump has wrought just a couple of weeks before the November election is a chaotic sprint for logic and a boatload of anger from Ukraine, European allies, bipartisan blocs of legislators and voters.
Together with a deal with Russia to export diesel oil globally in hopes of lowering pre-election domestic pump costs (that is not happening) and pressure on Ukraine to stop bombing Russian oil facilities, Trump put the U.S. on the side of invader Russia in that war, and he weirdly is aligning U.S. interests with greater business hopes with Russia over the apparent safety of U.S. troops in the Middle East.
Trump called it a move in the “national interest” – which apparently, he alone determines – ignoring the ineffective effect for any extra diesel distribution and denying U.S. intelligence that points to Russian involvement in targeting U.S. and Gulf bases.
It is this Trump-alone declaration “national interest,” another in a set of deals that appear to benefit himself and family, another in a series of moves in which Trump thumbs his nose at Congress and the law, that should be our focus.
Given the clear case for sanctions, there is no reason to believe that Trump will not use the same power to declare “national interests” to justify interference with state-run elections, the seating of election winners, adherence to court decisions, approval for his gilded personal glorification projects or continued excess in his mass deportation campaign.
Trump’s Shift to Russia
As Axios notes, whether it was the diesel deal or a fight over Ukraine’s ability to use Starshield technology to defend itself against Russian munitions, or the public denial of Russian involvement in the Iran war, Trump has spent the last few days shifting America’s position on an old foe.
For sure, House and Senate Republicans are suddenly ornery about getting set aside, and threatening to block additional Pentagon funding in the lame-duck congressional session that will follow elections unless the administration recants, and get tougher on Russia. War/Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is seeking at least $350 billion in new military spending as part of a partisan reconciliation bill.
Rolling Stone Magazine is going further, raising the question of “treason” by Trump because of the suspension of sanctions. The legal definition of “treason” as a crime may not fit because the United States is not formally at war with Russia, and the president has broad constitutional authority to manage foreign affairs and sanctions.
But the sense shared internationally that there is a deep betrayal of national interest here by Trump is hard to avoid.
“Treason” as a charged crime is a reason cited in the Constitution for impeachment of the president. Betrayal is merely political.
For sure, Trump, who also insisted that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to a non-existent, immediate energy ceasefire, has risked more civilian Ukrainian lives to Russian missile attacks on non-military electricity plants, and made resistance much more difficult just before onset of winter. As well, Trump has done nothing to advance the resolution of the more immediate causes of oil interruptions with Iran.
The Politics Make No Sense
Moving deliberately closer to Russia and Putin raises a host of legal, moral, diplomatic and strategic questions, of course. Doing so just before an election in which Republican candidates are fighting to retain a majority in Congress while trying to defend these moves is a head-scratcher. It makes no sense politically either.
The sheer number of normally silent Republican senators who are finding fault with Trump over the Russia shuffle is noteworthy – including Sen. Darline Graham, sister of the senator whose name and reputation are all over the sanctions bill.
Clearly Democrats are seizing on the moment to point out Trump’s historic lean over time to find reason to support Russia, even as Trump fights relentlessly against perceptions that a “weaponized” Justice Department had investigated longtime ties between his family and business with Russian operatives and oligarchs.
Trump made public statements about national security to justify a change in sanctions policies, then backed off a bit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Trump would take 60 days to review global and U.S. economic impacts from imposing sanctions on Russia and other countries, considering tariffs already in place.
New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who had led opposition to the Graham bill — warned that Trump would flout the law. He has introduced legislation to block Trump’s diesel deal with Putin.
The sanctions were scheduled to kick in Sunday designed to squeeze Russia’s economy and deprive it of cash to fund its war against Ukraine. The legislation also targets the world’s top five buyers of Russian oil and gas and extends sanctions against Iran. Some pre-2026 sanctions by the U.S. and Europe remain in place to restrict Russian energy export, shadow fleets and other trade goods.
Terry H. Schwadron retired as a senior editor at The New York Times, Deputy Managing Editor at The Los Angeles Times and leadership jobs at The Providence (RI) Journal-Bulletin. He was part of a Pulitzer Gold Medal team in Los Angeles, and his team part of several Pulitzers in New York.
