Former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden on Tuesday for imposing “weak sanctions” on Russia while allowing it to become “very very rich” with “tripling and quadrupling” oil prices.
“Russia has become very very rich during the Biden Administration, with oil prices doubling and soon to be tripling and quadrupling. The weak sanctions are insignificant relative to taking over a country and a massive piece of strategically located land,” Trump said in a statement.
“Now it has begun, oil prices are going higher and higher, and Putin is not only getting what he always wanted, but getting, because of the oil and gas surge, richer and richer,” Trump continued about the high prices Americans are paying at the pump.
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President Donald J. Trump:
“If properly handled, there was absolutely no reason that the situation currently happening in Ukraine should have happened at all. I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing… pic.twitter.com/PqnnXbnucg
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) February 22, 2022
According to AAA, the national average price per gallon on Tuesday was $3.531, up nearly a whole dollar from last year. Trump blamed the high gas prices not just on Biden’s mismanagement of foreign policy, but on Biden’s war on American energy independence.
“The U.S. was energy independent under the Trump Administration, an independence that we had never obtained before, and oil prices would have remained low,” Trump said. “Now, what a mess our Country is in!”
Trump’s comments come after Biden on Tuesday introduced sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. The White House initially did not call Sunday’s invasion an “invasion” but changed their mind Monday after numerous Republican senators continued to push Biden to take a much tougher stance against Russia.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “[t]his is precisely the kind of action that many of us expected, and it is one step closer to Putin’s clear goal of dismantling Ukraine’s sovereignty. The U.S. and our allies must immediately implement harsh sanctions that Putin cannot ignore.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) also sounded off on the need for tough sanctions. “President Biden’s timid sanctions tonight are wholly unequal to this moment. Russia is invading Ukraine now. The time has come for the ‘swift and severe’ sanctions that Joe Biden has long threatened but refused to impose. There is not a minute to lose.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stated the “United States must impose devastating sanctions against Putin’s interests, including immediate and mandatory sanctions permanently putting an end to his Nord Stream 2 pipeline.”
Something to be worried about: Russian Interior Minister Kolokoltsev told Putin that Moscow should recognize all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as D/LNR. He said, “from Mariupol and ending with those historical borders.” So all the gray area in this OSCE map. Frontline is red. pic.twitter.com/j8bhHUHd6J
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 21, 2022
Democrats blocked Republicans from implementing sanctions last week over fears implementation would reduce the U.S.’s leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yet, sanctions are just one measure among many that can be utilized against Russia. Historically, Russia has been successful at evading sanctions imposed by the West.
According to the Congressional Research Center, sanction options include: “trade embargoes; restrictions on particular exports or imports; denial of foreign assistance, loans, and investments; blocking of foreign assets under U.S. jurisdiction; and prohibition on economic transactions that involve U.S. citizens or businesses.”
Congress has the authority to issue sanctions but in modern times have abdicated that responsibility to the White House.
“White Houses often don’t like sanctions that are negotiated by Congress. They like to have the full leeway,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) excusing Congress’s abdication to Politico.
Polling shows just 36 percent approve of how Biden has handled Russian aggression.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø