Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / Donald Trump waives Russia sanctions as row with Zelensky intensifies

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Donald Trump waives Russia sanctions as row with Zelensky intensifies · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome. I'm Samantha Simmons. We start this hour
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  Speaker 1: with the news that US President Donald Trump has used
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  Speaker 1: his presidential authority to waive key sanctions against Russia and
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  Speaker 1: a new law passed last month citing US national interests.
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  Speaker 1: The restrictions, which included sanctions on key Russian leaders, including
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  Speaker 1: President Putin, and entities controlled by the Russian government, were
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  Speaker 1: due to come into force on Sunday. In a new
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  Speaker 1: executive order, Mr Trump said the waivers would remain in
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  Speaker 1: place until further notice. Let's get more on this from
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  Speaker 1: our White House reporter, Bernd de Busman.
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  Speaker 2: This bill that President Trump himself had signed last month
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  Speaker 2: was due to go in effect in just two days.
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  Speaker 2: It was meant to kind of essentially punish Russia, particularly
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  Speaker 2: its energy sector, for having invaded Ukraine and as a
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  Speaker 2: way to kind of choke Russia economically. Now, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: President Trump has essentially put that on hold. And it
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  Speaker 2: comes as his opinion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky seems
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  Speaker 2: to have very much... soured in the last few days.
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  Speaker 2: Trump has essentially said that he sees Zelensky as an
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  Speaker 2: obstacle to peace, that he doesn't actually want the fighting
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  Speaker 2: to stop, and at one point even suggested that he
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  Speaker 2: should no longer be president of Ukraine. So I think
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  Speaker 2: within that context, it's very important to note that Trump,
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  Speaker 2: his attitude towards Ukraine has changed in the last few days.
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  Speaker 2: But also, he seemed in the last month or so
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  Speaker 2: to really kind of turn towards Russian energy as a
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  Speaker 2: potential way to kind of address some of the concerns
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  Speaker 2: many American voters have ahead of the midterms of high
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  Speaker 2: energy prices. He hasn't said, however, nor has the White House,
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  Speaker 2: how putting these sanctions on hold is in the American
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  Speaker 2: national interest. He didn't reference it at all during his
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  Speaker 2: remarks in Georgia or later here in Mar-a-Lago later in
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  Speaker 2: the evening.
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  Speaker 1: And staying in Washington, the new White House press secretary,
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  Speaker 1: Katie Zachariah, has left her job just five days after
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  Speaker 1: taking up the post. Confirmation came after Mr Trump said
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  Speaker 1: he'd told her she should reconsider staying in the role
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  Speaker 1: after a bruising start. Ms Zachariah has faced growing scrutiny
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  Speaker 1: after a lacklustre first press briefing lasting 14 minutes and
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  Speaker 1: questions over her legal credentials. Our North America editor, Sarah Smith,
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  Speaker 1: has the story.
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  Speaker 3: Morning, Katie. Can we ask you a few questions?
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  Speaker 4: On her first Friday at the White House, Katie Zachariah
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  Speaker 4: did not yet know this was also her last day here.
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  Speaker 2: I'm so excited to be working with President Trump and
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  Speaker 2: on behalf of the American people.
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  Speaker 4: Later, she was noticeably absent from President Trump's side.
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  Speaker 5: And I said to Katie, just two minutes ago, I said, Katie,
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  Speaker 5: you know, you don't have to do this if you
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  Speaker 5: don't want. She said, this is a lot.
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  Speaker 6: He didn't say she'd been sacked, but the news broke
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  Speaker 6: minutes later. Press Secretary Katie Zachariah has been fired.
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  Speaker 1: Katie Zachariah is, quote, transitioning out.
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  Speaker 4: Who knows why she decided to give a press briefing
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  Speaker 4: on her second day in the job when she was
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  Speaker 4: obviously not ready for it.
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  Speaker 5: Good morning.
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  Speaker 6: Sticking rigidly to her script.
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  Speaker 2: I am so honored to work for President Trump and
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  Speaker 2: the American people.
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  Speaker 4: She took questions from only three journalists and was unable
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  Speaker 4: to answer an obvious question about Ukraine.
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  Speaker 2: Has the US stopped sharing intel with Ukraine?
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  Speaker 3: I'll have to get back to you on that.
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  Speaker 4: Only 14 minutes long, this was the shortest briefing anyone
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  Speaker 4: could remember. Katie Zachariah's problems then magnified when President Trump
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  Speaker 4: was asked about her legal qualifications and where she had
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  Speaker 4: passed the bar exam.
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  Speaker 2: You said she's an attorney. Where did she pass the
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  Speaker 2: bar exam?
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  Speaker 6: Which state?
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  Speaker 5: Which state?
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  Speaker 2: China.
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  Speaker 4: China, she said, when I moved to China. That is
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  Speaker 4: not true, because it's not possible. An American cannot sit
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  Speaker 4: a bar exam in China. Still more questions about that
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  Speaker 4: bar exam and an appearance that did not save her job.
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  Speaker 5: You took the bar exam, but you didn't pass the
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  Speaker 5: bar exam, correct?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, Sean.
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  Speaker 5: Okay, did you ever take it a second time?
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  Speaker 1: So for background.
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  Speaker 3: You might well be thinking, Luke, why are we worried
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  Speaker 3: about this when there are such serious issues facing the
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  Speaker 3: world at the moment?
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  Speaker 6: But that is the point.
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  Speaker 3: When you have got big questions about the US involvement
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  Speaker 3: with Iran and Ukraine or anything else, they need to
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  Speaker 3: be handled by somebody who takes them seriously and knows
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  Speaker 3: what they're doing, not someone who's become a laughingstock in
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  Speaker 3: the job.
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  Speaker 4: Less than three weeks before crucial midterm elections is a
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  Speaker 4: really bad time to lose a press spokesperson.
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  Speaker 6: Sarah Smith, BBC News, Washington.
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  Speaker 1: Larry Gersten is a political scientist and professor emeritus at
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  Speaker 1: San Jose State University. He says this has come at
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  Speaker 1: a bad time for the president.
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  Speaker 5: There's a short leash here for very good reasons. If
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  Speaker 5: you think about all the problems that have piled up
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  Speaker 5: for President Trump, the last thing he wants is a
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  Speaker 5: distraction for somebody who can't handle the job of the
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  Speaker 5: press person. In this case, clearly, image is important. He
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  Speaker 5: wants somebody who looks good, who sounds good. This is
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  Speaker 5: all about the Hollywood style that President Trump really appreciates,
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  Speaker 5: the way all of his cabinet people look, look and
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  Speaker 5: sound and act. She did not cut it. On top
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  Speaker 5: of all the other issues that are plaguing the president
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  Speaker 5: right now, it's the last thing he needed. And just
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  Speaker 5: like that, he let her go.
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  Speaker 1: Will it have any impact on him, on the midterms?
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  Speaker 1: What are the sort of wider implications, if there are any?
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  Speaker 5: It's not so much as it's going to have any
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  Speaker 5: impact on the midterms. It's just not going to add
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  Speaker 5: to all of the bigger issues that are already there.
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  Speaker 5: The last thing he needs is distraction. Look, we start
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  Speaker 5: with the tariffs. You then go ahead with Iran. You
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  Speaker 5: talk about immigration. You talk about inflation. All of these
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  Speaker 5: things have stacked up. The last thing President Trump needed
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  Speaker 5: was yet another distraction– when he's running around the country
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  Speaker 5: telling people, listen, things are okay. The gasoline prices are
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  Speaker 5: going to go down. Everything's going to be okay. Trust me. Well,
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  Speaker 5: right now, there is not a lot of trust given
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  Speaker 5: the events of the last 15 months. President Trump just
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  Speaker 5: doesn't have a lot of goodwill left. He's even lost
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  Speaker 5: about 30% of the Republicans who voted for him in 2024.
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  Speaker 5: So the last thing he needs is another distraction.
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  Speaker 1: Larry, let's talk about this executive order signed on Friday night.
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump saying it's in the U.S. national interest to
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  Speaker 1: withhold some of the sanctions against Russia. What's your assessment
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  Speaker 1: of that? And we did know it was coming, but
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  Speaker 1: how significant is it?
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  Speaker 5: It fits in with the pattern. It fits in with
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  Speaker 5: the pattern where all along President Trump has viewed that
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  Speaker 5: President Putin is more correct on this entire mess than
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  Speaker 5: President Zelensky. In fact, at one point, He actually said
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  Speaker 5: President Zelensky started the war. We know that's not the case.
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  Speaker 5: But that's how serious President Trump is about considering the needs,
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  Speaker 5: the feelings, the wants of President Putin. And so once again,
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  Speaker 5: he's saying we're going to head and we're not going
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  Speaker 5: to take on all of those different rules that are
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  Speaker 5: coming back. We'll let them slide for now, all those sanctions.
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  Speaker 5: And instead, we will go ahead and keep things going
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  Speaker 5: now with the gasoline, the diesel fuel, which, by the way,
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  Speaker 5: most experts say is less than one day's worth of
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  Speaker 5: fuel in the United States. So again, President Zelensky is
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  Speaker 5: at the door wanting, needing, helping U.S. help, which they
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  Speaker 5: had during the Biden administration. That's been largely cut off
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  Speaker 5: during the Trump administration. One more example of Trump's concerns.
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  Speaker 1: And I guess what is it going to mean for
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  Speaker 1: the war in Ukraine, for President Zelensky's efforts to push
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  Speaker 1: back the Russians?
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  Speaker 5: It's tough. It's tough because obviously Zelensky is concerned that
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  Speaker 5: this gives the Russians more money from their sales to
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  Speaker 5: go ahead and get the things they need, whether it's weapons,
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  Speaker 5: whether it's paying North Korean soldiers to be there. All
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  Speaker 5: of these things all add up. The point is that
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  Speaker 5: it leaves Zelensky out in the cold. He's already out
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  Speaker 5: in the cold. He's run out of defensive weapons. He
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  Speaker 5: needs help in getting through the winter and allowing the Russians...
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  Speaker 5: This further advantage only makes it more difficult for President
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  Speaker 5: Zelensky and the tough things that the Ukrainians are going
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  Speaker 5: through right now.