By Sumayya
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that President Donald Trump’s choice to drop the heavy trade punishments and taxes on Russia would be a 60-day break to study their effect on the world economy.
“The president wants to take the 60-day time frame to look closely at what putting both these punishments and taxes will do to the global economy and even to the US economy,” Rubio explained, noting that the money restrictions touched many different countries, not just Russia. He stated that different wars were changing world energy costs, including the US war against Iran and the attacks on Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthi group. “These fights around the world are starting to crash into each other, and they are hurting not just global oil and diesel costs, but local economies too,” Rubio said.
Trump shared late Saturday that his choice would help the US, though it was not completely clear if he had actually made up his mind on the issue. “We will figure it out, and you will figure it out,” Trump told reporters. “It is a very good choice, and it is going to be a choice that is good for the country, and I think good for the world.” US lawmakers from both political parties have heavily attacked Trump after he signed an official order on Friday that dropped the massive punishments and taxes aiming at Russia—rules that Congress had just passed last month. The law made in September, which Trump signed back then, included money punishments aimed at Russian leaders, rich businessmen, and banks, and it gave Trump the power to punish major buyers of Russian oil and gas.
The goal was to cut off money sources for the followers of Russian President Vladimir Putin and stop his war against Ukraine. But late Friday, just two days before the law was supposed to start working, Trump freed Russia from those money limits. “Beyond irresponsible,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a regular Trump critic who will leave his job in January, wrote in a message on X. “If the President truly wants to bring down power costs, he can do it by fixing the Iran problem, not by doing a favor for Vladimir Putin.” Ted Cruz, a senior Republican senator from Texas, called the step “a mistake” during a talk on Fox News.
Trump’s official order came after he made a deal with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to allow shipments of Russian diesel fuel in exchange for lifting the money punishments. The effects of high diesel price jumps caused by the Iran war are starting to leak into the US economy, and everyday living costs are a top worry for voters before the important midterm elections next month. Voter polls show that Trump’s Republican party is likely to suffer a heavy loss in the elections. “The diesel that Putin was planning to sell was going to be made available to the global market one way or another. The only difference is how much of it the United States was going to receive,” Rubio said, highlighting the high importance of this key fuel that runs US road trucks, farming, and building work. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky shared that he was scared the United States would drop even more punishments against Russia and said Trump’s action gives a reward to Putin.
