Trump plans to sign new Russia sanctions bill, White House says

The White House said on Friday night that President Trump would sign legislation imposing sweeping sanctions against Russia and curtailing his own power to lift them by himself, bowing to the near-universal bipartisan will of Congress at the risk of escalating tension with Moscow.

“President Donald J. Trump read early drafts of the bill and negotiated regarding critical elements of it,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said in a written statement released late in the evening. “He has now reviewed the final version and, based on its responsiveness to his negotiations, approves the bill and intends to sign it.”

Mr. Trump had little choice given that the bill passedthe Senate on Thursday by a whopping 98-to-2 vote, two days after clearing the House by a 419-to-3 margin. Had Mr. Trump vetoed the legislation, he faced the politically embarrassing prospect of being overridden by a Congress controlled by his own party on a measure to penalize Moscow at the same time his associates are being investigated for their contacts with Russia.

The Kremlinretaliated even before the president announced his decision, seizing two United States diplomatic properties in Russia and ordering the embassy to reduce its staff by September. European leaders have expressed opposition to the measure because they argue that the United States and its allies should remain in concert on actions taken against Russia. Energy companies in the United States also objected to measures that they worried would put them at a competitive disadvantage.

The legislation outlines sanctions against Iran and North Korea as well as Russia and limits the president’s ability to suspend them without Congress weighing in. Presidents of both parties have traditionally resisted such restrictions on their ability to conduct foreign policy, but Mr. Trump had little political room to maneuver because vocal opposition would feed into perceptions that he is too friendly with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has objected to American sanctions.

When Senate and House leaders announcedan agreement on final language for the bill last weekend, Ms. Sanders indicated that the president was supportive. But in the days that followed, she took a more cautious tone, saying he would wait to weigh in until he had read the final version. But she insisted that he supported sanctions against Russia in general and would not remove those imposed in the wake of Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine until it reversed course.

President Trump will sign a package of stiff financial sanctions against Russia that passed Congress with overwhelming support, the White House said Friday.

Moscow hasalready responded, ordering a reduction in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia and closing the U.S. Embassy's recreation retreat.

Trump's willingness to support the measure is a remarkable acknowledgement that he has yet to sell his party on his hopes of forging a warmer relationship with Moscow. His vow to extend a hand of cooperation to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been met with resistance as skeptical lawmakers look to limit the president's leeway to go easy on Moscow over its alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The Senate passedthe bill, 98-2, two days after the House pushedthe measure through by an overwhelming margin, 419-3. Both were veto-proof numbers.

The White House initially wavered on whether the president would sign the measure into law. But in a statement late Friday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had "reviewed the final version and, based on its responsiveness to his negotiations, approves the bill and intends to sign it."