Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s decision to waive sweeping Russian tariffs and sanctions enacted by the bill championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, proclaiming “no one has been tougher” than the commander in chief.
Bessent appeared on NBC News’s Meet the Press and backed Trump’s decision to put a pause on the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a move that has drawn fierce criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and both parties in Congress. Trump waived the legislation shortly after striking a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift the embargo on Russian diesel in an effort to lower energy prices ahead of the midterm elections.
“President Trump sanctioned the two largest Russian energy companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, which dealt a catastrophic blow to the Russian energy industry,” Bessent said. “So no one has been tougher on Russian sanctions than President Trump.”
When pressed by host Kristen Welker on the president’s decision to loosen sanctions on Russia, Bessent objected.
“Kristen, that’s not true,” he said. “No sanctions were lifted on Friday. No sanctions were lifted.”
The Treasury head then explained that the outrage about Trump’s waiving of the Graham Act is misplaced, as European partners have made similar moves in reaction to rising energy prices.
“There is a 60-day period, so we can examine what’s going on,” Bessent said of the sanctions relief. “The only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo, and I will point out the U.K. in May waived their embargo on diesel and jet fuel made with Russian crude. So where’s the outrage for the rest of the world?”
Zelensky appeared on the same program before Bessent and reaffirmed his objection to Trump lifting sanctions on Russia, framing the act as going easy on the aggressor in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We want to trust him, and I hope that he will change his decisions because I think that it’s all mistakes, and it will not help us, and it will not help the United States,” Zelensky said of Trump. “It’s not my choice, and I hope that he will change his decisions, change his attitude to Putin. We waited from the very beginning of his presidential term that he will change his attitude to Putin.”
Bessent, however, said Zelensky was “disassembled” when discussing Trump’s order, noting Europe’s role in purchasing Russian crude.
TRUMP WAIVES RUSSIA SANCTIONS ORDERED BY LAW NAMED FOR LINDSEY GRAHAM
“President Zelensky does not criticize his European partners,” Bessent said. “He seemed a bit disassembled in that interview. The Europeans are financing the Russian war machine. The U.S. imports $4 billion of Russian products. $1.8 billion of that is fertilizer. The Europeans, they import more than 10 times that.”
Tensions between Zelensky and Trump have increasingly escalated in recent weeks. Trump told Zelensky to step down as president after Ukrainian forces weighed targeting Russian energy sites. Trump then said he secured an energy ceasefire, but the alleged ceasefire quickly unraveled after Russia struck Ukrainian power plants, with Ukraine striking Russian oil sites in kind.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
