Rolling Back Trump

On October 16, 2026, Trump signed an order implementing the Graham Act, the sanctions and tariffs law he had signed a month earlier. The order increases duties on Russian goods by 500% and on top buyers of Russian oil and sanctions evaders by 100%, then immediately waives nearly all of those duties and most of the Act's sanctions.

1. Sep 18, 2026Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 into law, authorizing new tariffs and sanctions tied to Russia's war in Ukraine. Source ↗
2. Oct 16, 2026Trump signed an order formally imposing the Act's new tariffs and sanctions, then immediately waived nearly all of them under a national-interest certification to Congress, two days before most provisions were due to bind. Source ↗
3. Oct 17, 2026Bipartisan lawmakers condemned the waiver. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called it "beyond irresponsible" and asked, "What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?" Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, "Lindsey would be appalled." Source ↗
4. Oct 17, 2026Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said "Trump's deal with the devil keeps getting dirtier." Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Trump was "thumbing his nose" at Congress, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the bill's co-drafter, said the waivers have "nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin." Source ↗
5. Oct 17, 2026Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the decision "seems wrong to me" and "definitely helps only the Russians." Congress is on recess until after the Nov. 3 election, making a quick legislative counter unlikely. Source ↗
6. Oct 17, 2026Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C. -- appointed in July to replace her brother Lindsey Graham, the law's namesake, after his sudden death -- said of the waiver, "Personally, I would choose to put the pressure on Russia to end the war and get gas prices down ... Because I don't trust Putin, and I don't trust Russia." Source ↗
7. Oct 17, 2026Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump would take up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of the sanctions and tariffs waived a day earlier, since Friday's order did not specify how long the waiver would last. Source ↗
8. Oct 17, 2026Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club, "A lot of you don't know what my decision is yet, but we'll figure it out, and you'll figure it out." Source ↗
9. Oct 17, 2026Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on Fox News the decision "was a mistake," adding, "the current path, unfortunately, just, it benefits Putin, and that's not a good idea." Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said on Fox News he does not support the decision, calling Putin "a vile dictator and thug." Source ↗
10. Oct 18, 2026Trump posted on Truth Social that the waiver keeps Moscow at the negotiating table: "I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine," and he did not want to "drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table." Source ↗
11. Oct 18, 2026Former Vice President Mike Pence said on X that waiving the sanctions "dishonors the legacy of the late Senator Lindsey Graham" and "is decidedly not in the national interests of the United States and should be reversed," adding that "Putin is a war criminal and only understands strength." Source ↗
12. Oct 18, 2026"Waiving Graham Act sanctions on Russia signals weakness at a moment that demands American strength," Pence said. Source ↗
13. Oct 18, 2026House Speaker Mike Johnson said he told the White House "we need to talk about it" and to "carefully consider the unintended consequences that may ensue," adding, "Congress voted on this decisively just several weeks ago, and we understand that Putin cannot be trusted." Source ↗
14. Oct 19, 2026Secretary of State Marco Rubio said trade talks with India were a factor in the waiver: "We are trying to finalise a trade deal with India right now and we are very close to doing that ... that's one of the things we take into consideration when the President makes a decision about national security waivers," he told reporters in Uzbekistan. Source ↗
15. Oct 19, 2026Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council called the pause "the confidence-building measure that gives the two sides the negotiating space to get over the final hump," saying it provides "an important opening at a critical moment." Source ↗
16. Oct 19, 2026Kugelman said tensions over the sanctions law and new U.S. visa policies had put the relationship "in danger of falling into even harder times." Source ↗
17. Oct 19, 2026Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., circulated a Wall Street Journal editorial on the waiver with the comment, "Reagan and Lindsey would be ashamed of this." Source ↗
18. Oct 19, 2026At the White House, Trump said, "Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine, they haven't been doing much." He added, "We've given a lot to Ukraine, they've given us nothing," as Russia continued striking Ukrainian civilian sites. Source ↗
19. Oct 21, 2026Russia released American Stephen Hubbard, 74, a retired teacher from Michigan, sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years on mercenary charges he and his family deny. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Hubbard was freed "at the request of President Donald J. Trump" and that "There was no 'swap' necessary for this release." Source ↗
20. Oct 21, 2026 · LatestIn a follow-up post, Trump wrote that "they didn't know that he was negotiating the release of Stephen Hubbard, a truly big and important deal for the U.S." and that "if sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt." Source ↗

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