Donald Trump is still not happy that Congress made him do something he didn't want to do. And, facts be damned, he made sure to note to the world that the problem doesn't lie with an adversarial country, but with his government.
On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted that the sanctions bill on Russia he signed on Wednesday was one of the worst things in the world.
In calling things "an all-time low," Trump seems to have forgotten about the small, multi-decade tiff known as the Cold War, which nearly led to the destruction of the world.
But, more interestingly, the president's words echoed talking points from Russia's prime minister.
The president's frustration was visible on Wednesday, when he signed a package of sanctions on countries that include Russia. His signing statement mostly omitted Russia's actions in hacking into a major political party's email servers and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election — the catalyst for the sanctions to begin with. Instead, he blamed Congress for making him do it, implying they are incompetent at their jobs.
Still, the bill remains seriously flawed particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch's authority to negotiate. Congress could not even negotiate a healthcare bill after seven years of talking. By limiting the executive's flexibility, this bill makes it harder for the United States to strike good deals for the American people, and will drive China, Russia, and North Korea much closer together. The Framers of our Constitution put foreign affairs in the hands of the President. This bill will prove the wisdom of that choice.
Yet despite its problems, I am signing this bill for the sake of national unity. It represents the will of the American people to see Russia take steps to improve relations with the United States. We hope there will be cooperation between our two countries on major global issues so that these sanctions will no longer be necessary.
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