President Trump has signed an executive order suspending a sweeping package of new Russia sanctions that Congress passed just last month, telling lawmakers the pause is "in the national interests of the United States" — a move that drew immediate, bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill.

The order, reported Friday by NBC News and confirmed by ABC News, puts on hold a bill named for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham that Trump had signed into law last month under pressure from Congress. According to details of the order, it exempts a range of penalties from taking effect — including new tariffs on countries that buy Russian hydrocarbons, restrictions on individuals and entities tied to the Russian government, and additional financial and commercial curbs — while leaving previously imposed sanctions on Russia intact.

A diesel deal comes full circle

The waiver follows directly from an agreement Trump struck with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, under which Moscow agreed to release hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel onto the global market as prices spiked. Critics in Congress — including members of Trump's own party — had already warned that the arrangement looked like a backdoor reward for the Kremlin even as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

A WAIVER IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST — OR A GIFT TO MOSCOW?

Friday's order makes that reward official, at least for now. Under the 2017 framework that governs congressional sanctions review, the White House must formally notify lawmakers before easing penalties on Russia, triggering a 30-day window in which Congress can vote to block the move — though such votes have rarely succeeded in the past. Reaction from Capitol Hill was swift: Democrats accused the administration of undercutting its own leverage over Moscow, while several Republican senators who voted for the sanctions package reiterated concerns, first raised over the diesel deal itself, that the White House is negotiating away hard-won pressure on the Kremlin for short-term relief at the gas pump.

The move also lands as Ukraine has separately pressed Washington not to pull back on intelligence-sharing tied to Kyiv's strikes on Russian refineries, warning that any reduction in support could cost lives on the battlefield. Officials have not said whether Friday's waiver is linked to that separate dispute, but the timing has fueled speculation in Washington that the White House is recalibrating its posture toward Moscow on multiple fronts at once.

The sanctions package itself targets Russia's energy exports, its financial sector and firms doing business with Moscow, and was passed with broad support after months of congressional pressure to respond to Russia's continued strikes inside Ukraine. Trump signed it reluctantly last month, reportedly telling aides at the time that he wanted flexibility to use the sanctions as a negotiating tool rather than a fixed penalty — a preference Friday's order now puts into practice.

The White House has not said how long the waiver will remain in effect, or whether it could be extended if the diesel shipments continue. The practical effect, analysts say, is to keep Russian oil and diesel flowing into global markets uninterrupted — a dynamic that may ease fuel prices for consumers but undercuts the economic pressure the sanctions were designed to apply.