House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) says he alerted the White House to potential “unintended consequences” stemming from President Trump’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia.
Trump signed an executive order last week waiving sanctions on Russia that were set to take effect under legislation championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and passed by Congress with strong bipartisan support.
The move immediately triggered backlash from both sides of the aisle, with lawmakers expressing alarm over the administration’s willingness to soften economic pressure on Moscow.
Johnson addressed the controversy during an appearance on Fox News, speaking with host Larry Kudlow about Congress’s position on the matter.
“Congress voted on this decisively just several weeks ago, and we understand that Putin cannot be trusted,” Johnson told Kudlow. “He demonstrates that over and over and over.”
Johnson said he had spoken with colleagues who sit on key committees, including intelligence and foreign affairs, and that those members had raised serious concerns about the White House’s move.
“I told the White House team that we need to talk about it, and I think carefully consider the unintended consequences that may ensue from that,” Johnson said, noting that scheduling conflicts had prevented him from speaking directly with the president.
Johnson also acknowledged that he knows the “president’s evaluating this as he does everything else,” signaling confidence that Trump would weigh the political and diplomatic implications carefully.
The Speaker suggested Trump’s broader governing philosophy guided the decision, saying: “He has two major objectives, as you know, Larry. Every day he wants to keep America safe, and he wants to bring down the cost of living for every American. He thinks outside the box with creative ideas all the time.”
Trump defended the waiver in a Truth Social post on Sunday, framing it as a necessary measure to preserve diplomatic momentum in ongoing peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
“I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table,” Trump wrote, adding that he could reverse the decision at any time.
Republican leaders had deliberately built broad presidential discretion into the sanctions legislation in order to secure White House support for the bill in the first place.
That decision now appears to be at the center of a growing tension between congressional Republicans and the administration over how aggressively to maintain economic pressure on Moscow.
