“The Republicans are putting in legislation that is very tough sanctioning, etcetera, on any country doing business with Russia,” Trump told reporters before leaving Florida on Sunday to return to the White House.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in October that he was ready to bring legislation long championed by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina that sanctions Russia to a vote, but didn’t “want to commit to a hard deadline.”
The bill would allow Trump to impose tariffs of up to 500% on imports from countries that buy Russian energy products and are not actively supporting Ukraine. This specifically targets major consumers of Russian energy, such as China and India.
“We may add Iran to that,” Trump added Sunday, without elaborating.
Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have pushed for legislation to punish Russia for its continued war on Ukraine. Trump had been reluctant to support it as he tried to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin is showing no sign of letting up in his military campaign after almost four years of war in Ukraine, with Trump failing to sway Putin even after hosting the Russian leader for a summit in Alaska.
