Trump Waives Graham Act Russia Sanctions
Late on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order invoking the national-interest waiver in Section 115 of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act — the bipartisan law he signed last month, named for the South Carolina senator who died in July — and suspended its new penalties two days before they were due to take effect on Oct. 18. The order waives the law's 100% tariffs on the largest buyers of Russian crude and natural gas, including China, India and Turkey, along with its 500% tariffs on Russian goods and other mandatory sanctions, and leaves them suspended until administration officials "determine that further action is appropriate." Existing sanctions on Russia under earlier executive orders stay in place. The waiver came a week after Treasury lifted sanctions on Russian diesel as part of a deal Trump struck with Vladimir Putin to bring down fuel prices driven up by the Iran war, and a day after Trump told Newsmax he finds Volodymyr Zelensky "more difficult to deal with than Putin" over Ukraine's strikes on Russian refineries. Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the suspension "an important and truly historic moment." Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, Rep. Don Bacon and Democrats including the law's co-author, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, condemned it.
“[On X, after the president suspended the sanctions law named for his late colleague:] Lindsey would be appalled.”