Trump abandons plans for more Russia sanctions

“Relationship With Trump Is Perfect,” Nikki Haley

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said that her relationship with President Donald Trump was “perfect” and that he did not need to be worried about Haley and Vice President Mike Pence running against him in 2020. Her comments come amid unusual public friction between Haley, a former South Carolina governor who is known for her blunt diplomacy at the United Nations, and the White House.

Haley, a member of Trump’s cabinet, said on last Sunday that Washington was preparing new sanctions on Russia over its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. However, Trump delayed further action, a senior administration official said. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Haley might have been confused about Washington’s plans, but Haley fired back on Tuesday, “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.” Kudlow said he had apologized to Haley.

When asked by media on Thursday about her relationship with Trump, Haley said: “It’s perfect.” When asked if Trump should be worried about a Pence/Haley campaign, Haley smiled, shook her head and said: “No.”

President Donald Trump has made a decision to abandon plans to impose more sanctions on Russia for supporting Syria’s chemical weapons attack on civilians, at least for now. As per media reports from United States, a senior administration source in the ministry is reported to have  said that the Trump administration informed the Russian government there won’t be an additional round of sanctions. The official said the call was made to the Russian Embassy on Sunday. The reports said the confusion was caused by comments made by UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in a TV interview when she said new sanctions were coming made the call necessary.

Trump’s national security team seemed to have reached enough of a consensus on punishing Russia for its de facto support for the attack that left at least 75 dead that Haley had told the TV channel that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would be unveiling sanctions on Russia the next day.

“We’ll do sanctions as soon as they very much deserve it,” Trump said in Florida. “There’s been nobody tougher on Russia than President Donald Trump. With the media, no matter what I did, it’s never tough enough, because that’s the narrative,” Trump said. “But Russia will tell you there’s been nobody tougher than Donald Trump,” he added.