President Trump signed, then slammed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that imposes harsh sanctions on Russia over meddling in the 2016 US general election, saying aspects of the legislation were “unconstitutional” that may have “unintended consequences,” reports Fox News.
The new sanctions not only punish Russian officials and businesses for interfering in the American election process, but also limit the executive branch’s power to ease the sanctions without congressional approval.
The President released a statement shortly after signing the “flawed” bill, lashing out at Congressional leaders for “hindering” his ability to conduct foreign policy.
“In its haste to pass this legislation, the Congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions,” Trump said. “My Administration particularly expects the Congress to refrain from using this flawed bill to hinder our important work with European allies to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, and from using it to hinder our efforts to address any unintended consequences it may have for American businesses, our friends, or our allies.”
“Congress could not even negotiate a health care bill after seven years of talking,” said the President. “I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars. That is a big part of the reason I was elected.”
“As President, I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress,” he added.