Trump says Russia poses ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to the US

President Donald Trump has declared that Russia poses an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to US national security.

Trump signed an executive order in response to the threat that uses trade policy to try to pressure Russia into stopping its war with Ukraine.

‘I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine,’ states the order announced on Wednesday.

‘After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066 continues and that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.’

In order ‘to deal with the national emergency’, Trump imposed a new tariff on imports from India, as a penalty for purchasing Russian Federation oil. An additional 25% tariff will take effect later in August, on top of a 25% tariff Trump announced last week that will start on Thursday. That doubles tariffs on India to 50%.

The order directs the Trump administration to identify any other countries that are importing oil from Russia and determine if they should also be slapped with similar tariffs.

The order was announced as US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

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