Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Weissert, W., & Kinnard, M. (2026, October 17). Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-puts-new-russia-sanctions-passed-by-congress-on-hold-20261017-p616df.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-17 · by Will Weissert, Meg Kinnard

Quick Summary

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that delays the implementation of new sanctions against Russia, despite signing similar legislation just last month honoring late Senator Lindsey Graham’s legacy. The move came amid criticism over his recent agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to purchase diesel from Russia, which has drawn backlash for potentially aiding Russia's war in Ukraine and failing to lower global energy prices. Trump’s decision was justified as being “in the national interest,” but no further explanation was provided by the White House regarding this rationale.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 16, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending new sanctions and tariffs on Russia just two days before they were set to take effect. The move effectively neutralizes the Graham Act, which aimed to clamp down more quickly on financial resources fueling Russia's war against Ukraine. This decision follows Trump's controversial announcement a week earlier that he had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to lower global energy prices, despite potential negative impacts on Ukraine. The order gives the administration greater flexibility in deciding future sanctions without being bound by the law’s requirements. Trump’s actions have drawn criticism and raised questions about his stance on holding Russia accountable for its aggression towards Ukraine. Despite pressure, Trump refused to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting the war. This decision comes amid growing concerns over gas prices and unpopularity of the war in Iran, affecting Trump's approval ratings ahead of crucial midterm elections. Republican lawmakers are now facing mounting pressure to maintain control of Congress under these circumstances. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been urging swift action against Russia following Senator Graham’s sudden death earlier this year. The suspension of sanctions marks a significant shift in the U.S.’s approach towards Russia and its ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Written for “Trump Waives Russia Sanctions” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 20 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high 1 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans left for article 86418 (high confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-17

Story

📰 Trump Waives Russia Sanctions
Politics · 21 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest same event · 100%
Toronto Star · 0.96 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 30 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to halt new Russia sanctions, citing national interest and mentioning the legislation's previous signing by Trump.”
Trump puts on hold new Russia sanctions he signed into law same event · 100%
Al Jazeera · 0.95 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 2 of 12 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to pause Russia sanctions he had previously signed into law, on the same date and described as in national interest.”
Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold amid deepening row with Ukraine same event · 100%
The Guardian · 0.94 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 21 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to put new Russia sanctions on hold, on the same day and with identical context.”
Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest same event · 100%
Global News · 0.94 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 31 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to delay new Russia sanctions on the same day, citing national interest.”
Trump pauses Russian sanctions package after striking diesel deal with Putin same event · 100%
South China Morning Post · 0.91 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to pause a sanctions package against Russia on the same day, citing it as being in the national interest.”
Trump suspends sanctions that Congress put on Russia just one week after his cushy dealings with Putin same event · 100%
Daily Mail · 0.90 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 34 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order to suspend new Russia sanctions, occurring on the same day and involving the same legislation named after Senator Lindsey Graham.”
Trump suspends new Russia sanctions following deal to purchase diesel, citing ‘national interests’ same event · 100%
NBC News · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 12 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles report President Trump signing an executive order to suspend new sanctions against Russia, citing national interests, on the same day and with identical context.”
Trump puts Russia sanctions package on hold, says pause is in national interest same event · 100%
New York Post · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order on October 16, 2026, to put a new sanctions package targeting Russia's economy on hold.”
Trump waives Russia sanctions ordered by law named for Lindsey Graham same event · 100%
Washington Examiner · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles report on President Trump signing an executive order to put Russia sanctions into effect but immediately pausing them, citing national interest.”
Trump pauses sanctions package targeted at Russian economy same event · 100%
CBC News · 0.88 cosine similarity
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 20 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles describe President Trump signing an executive order on the same day (October 17, 2026) to pause new sanctions targeting Russia's economy.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
21
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 3950 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Will Weissert
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Democratic Virginia Rep. Don Beyer noted on social media shortly after the announcement of the sanctions being suspended that he and others had “warned” Trump might make such a move.
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest
🔮 Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter”.
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold
🔮 The visits come as the Republican president works to bolster his party in Nov. 3 elections that will determine control of Congress, and they follow stops earlier this week in Ohio and Alaska.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Trump campaigns in Arizona and Montana on 2nd day of Western swing to help boost GOP candidates
🔮 WASHINGTON (AP) — The midterm elections might look ominous for President Donald Trump, but there are places where his Republican Party could turn the tables on Democrats if it can peel off a few key wins in key congressional races.
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🔮 SAN ANTONIO (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday night that he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to fireballer Roger Clemens, calling the seven-time Cy Young winner “maybe the greatest pitcher of all time.”
2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Trump says he'll award fireballer Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom
🔮 It’d be awfully hard,” Trump said Wednesday, when asked if Hurricane Isaias — and a forecast track which has parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida bracing for significant impacts — might alter his plans.
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🔮 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he will stop using taxpayer funds for television advertisements glorifying himself that sparked a major backlash, and instead tap his super PAC to cover costs going forward.
2026-10-06 · assertive framing · Trump says his super PAC will pay for taxpayer-funded ads that sparked backlash for glorifying him
🔮 When asked by Time magazine last week what he would miss most about the White House after he leaves, Trump said, “This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · A replica Oval Office has had a very golden Trump makeover
🔮 When asked by Time magazine last week what he would miss most about the White House after he leaves, Trump said, “This beautiful room that nobody should be allowed to rip down.
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🔮 The biggest policy announcement of the visit was modest: an agreement to extend by two months a trade truce that had been set to expire in November.
2026-09-25 · assertive framing · Takeaways from Trump-Xi summit: Lots of pomp and even more punting on tensions in US-China relations
Also by Will Weissert
Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest
2026-10-17 · Toronto Star
Trump campaigns in Arizona and Montana on 2nd day of Western swing to help boost GOP candidates
2026-10-14 · Toronto Star
As Democrats eye big midterm wins, Republicans look to turn the tables in some House districts
2026-10-08 · Toronto Star
Trump says he'll award fireballer Roger Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom
2026-10-08 · Toronto Star
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Will Weissert →
Meg Kinnard
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Democratic Virginia Rep. Don Beyer noted on social media shortly after the announcement of the sanctions being suspended that he and others had “warned” Trump might make such a move.
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest
🔮 Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter”.
2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold
🔮 Equally unclear is whether Norman’s hard-line conservative message will resonate across the state just two months after his loss in the governor's primary.
2026-08-25 · assertive framing · Can Trump get Lindsey Graham’s sister elected?
🔮 President Donald Trump will head to South Carolina on Friday for a final push for Sen. Darline Graham, his chosen contender to succeed her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, in an upcoming Republican primary runoff.
2026-08-21 · assertive framing · Trump goes all-in for Lindsey Graham’s sister after her stunning national security blunder
Also by Meg Kinnard
Trump puts new Russia sanctions that he recently signed into law on hold, citing national interest
2026-10-17 · Toronto Star
Barack Obama to campaign with Ohio Democrats as he expands his outreach ahead of Election Day
2026-10-13 · Toronto Star
Can Trump get Lindsey Graham’s sister elected?
2026-08-25 · The Independent
Trump goes all-in for Lindsey Graham’s sister after her stunning national security blunder
2026-08-21 · The Independent
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Congress Iran Russia Russian Ukraine

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 11× Russia GPE · 6× Congress ORG · 4× Graham PERSON · 4× Ukraine GPE · 4× Iran GPE · 2× Putin PERSON · 2× Republicans NORP · 2× Russian NORP · 2× South Carolina GPE · 2×

Narrative

In a debate earlier this week with Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, Graham – who has Trump’s endorsement and is expected to campaign with him in South Carolina next week – said she had been “so proud” to help get the measure passed but acknowledged it was the president’s purview as to how he implemented it.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter”.
2026-10-17 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Trump puts new Russia sanctions passed by Congress on hold · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 0 hedged)

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that puts on hold a sweeping new sanctions package targeting the Russian economy, telling Congress the pause was in the national interest. asserted
pause → sign → interest
Trump personally signed the legislation just last month. asserted
Trump → sign → legislation
Named after late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, it had sought to clamp down more quickly on the flow of financial resources fuelling the war against Ukraine. asserted
it → name → Ukraine
Trump’s unexpected move comes a week after he stunningly said the US had agreed to purchase diesel from Russia to try to bring down global energy prices, despite that potentially hurting Ukraine in its war with Russia. asserted
that → come → Russia
A poll by the AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research published on October 1 found that Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of the Iran war and blame him for higher prices. asserted
Americans → publish → prices
Trump’s approval ratings have sunk to near-historic lows and pressure is mounting as Republicans try to hold control of both chambers of Congress on Election Day on November 3. asserted
Republicans → sink → November
Graham died in July but had advocated for stricter US sanctions against Russia as a way of pressuring it to end its war in Ukraine. asserted
Graham → die → Ukraine
His colleagues in Congress responded with bipartisan support after his death and Trump attached his signature to the legislation – then changed his mind on Friday. asserted
Trump → respond → Friday
The White House did not immediately explain how pausing the sanctions was in the national interest. asserted
pausing → explain → interest
The decision was posted on the White House website late in the evening, and the notification noted that the report explaining the decision had been submitted to Congress. asserted
report → post → Congress
Still, it comes as Trump has increasingly lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, blaming him for failing to make a deal with Putin to end the fighting. asserted
Trump → come → fighting
The Trump administration, meanwhile, had remained mostly quiet since the passage of the bill with large majorities in the House and Senate following Graham’s sudden death – with lawmakers urged ahead by Zelenskyy. asserted
lawmakers → remain → Zelenskyy
The president’s latest action also followed him announcing last week that he had reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin. asserted
he → follow → Putin
Trump said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter”. asserted
Russia → say → November
Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote. asserted
he → deliver → that
Trump’s decision to strike a deal with Putin on diesel on the world market has been pilloried by Republicans and Democrats alike, who say it will help Russia execute its war against Ukraine – without making a difference to global fuel prices, which are elevated mostly due to Trump’s war on Iran. asserted
which → strike → Iran
The sanctions that Trump has now suspended, meanwhile, also had become a campaign centrepiece for Senator Darline Graham, the late senator’s sister, who was appointed to serve out the remaining months in his current term. asserted
who → suspend → term
She is now running to replace him in the Senate more permanently. asserted
She → run → Senate
In a debate earlier this week with Democratic nominee Annie Andrews, Graham – who has Trump’s endorsement and is expected to campaign with him in South Carolina next week – said she had been “so proud” to help get the measure passed but acknowledged it was the president’s purview as to how he implemented it. asserted
he → have → it
“It gives the president tools that he can use if he so chooses, to end the war through economic sanctions,” Graham said Sunday during a debate in Columbia. asserted
Graham → give → Columbia
“So that’s up to him as to whether or not he wants to use it, or whether he wants to use something else, but I think the purpose of it is to bring down the gas prices and ultimately end the war. asserted
purpose → ’ → war
And when the war ends, gas prices will fall.” asserted
prices → end → ?
AP Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. asserted
what → get → world
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