U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said on Sunday that “Russia is playing Trump for a stooge,” two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving most of the sanctions and tariffs in a Russia sanctions law he had signed a month earlier.
“Russia is playing Trump for a stooge…and it’s working. Meanwhile, he is waging a war with Iran and attacking allies like Canada in ways that drive up prices on American families. Enough is enough!” Heinrich wrote in a post on X.
The post included a screenshot of the headline of an NBC News report, “Trump doubles down after waiving new Russia sanctions, calling it a ‘very good decision,'” which said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had called the move a “financial reward for Putin.” Heinrich did not add links or further comment in replies to his post.
Trump’s executive order, dated Oct. 16, invokes Section 115 of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which allows the president to waive the law’s sanctions, restrictions and duties after certifying to Congress that doing so is “in the national interests of the United States.” The order waives the law’s tariffs, including a 500% duty on Russian goods and 100% duties on goods from the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, along with most of its sanctions provisions.
The order says it does not affect sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders on Russia, and that the waivers remain in effect until the president or the secretary of state determines “further action is appropriate.”
The Senate passed the bill, H.R. 5334, by 86-11 on Aug. 7, with Heinrich among those voting yes, according to the Senate roll call. The House passed it 262-159 on Sept. 16, and Trump signed it into law on Sept. 18.
The waiver followed an Oct. 9 call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The same day, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 135, authorizing transactions related to the sale, delivery and importation of Russian-origin diesel fuel through April 7, 2027.
Trump explained his decision in a Truth Social post at 4:36 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18, about 40 minutes before Heinrich’s post. “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 “I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”
Trump also wrote that “Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way,” and said Ukrainian strikes on Russian diesel refineries were “seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States.”
Asked by reporters on Oct. 17 why he waived the sanctions, Trump said, “It’s a very good decision, and it’s going to be a decision that’s good for the country, and I think good for the world,” according to the NBC News report. The same report quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying the administration wanted 60 days “to analyze their impact on the U.S. and global economy given the pressure on global energy supplies.”
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement to Axios that “enforcing the sanctions provisions now would impede ongoing U.S. efforts to negotiate a durable and comprehensive peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the decision on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Oct. 18. Asked by moderator Kristen Welker why the president was “rewarding a dictator who invaded Ukraine,” Bessent said Trump “wants the killing to stop” and that the law gives him “the flexibility” to take 60 days to assess the situation. “No sanctions were lifted on Friday,” he said, adding that “the only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo,” according to the program’s transcript.
Bessent also said European countries “continue to gorge on Russian energy” and had declined U.S. requests to impose secondary tariffs on China and India. “Why should the U.S. go it alone, Kristen?” he asked, adding in the interview that “no one has been tougher on Russian sanctions than President Trump,” citing sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.
On the same program, Zelenskyy said the waiver amounted to “strengthening Putin’s war against us,” and Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said the president was “choosing the American people first” by weighing energy prices, and that the administration continues to share intelligence with Ukraine and provide it with weapons.
The waiver also drew criticism from some Republicans. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina called it “beyond irresponsible” and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said it “was a mistake,” according to the NBC News report.
Heinrich’s references to Iran and Canada did not cite specific actions. The United States has been at war with Iran since February, and Bessent said on “Meet the Press” that higher prices reflected “an energy shock,” adding, “We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict, and those prices will come down.”
On Canada, Trump signed three proclamations on July 20 imposing additional 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods, which the White House described as a response to “Canada’s discriminatory treatment of American products.” The tariffs exclude energy, potash and certain other goods, and their start was later pushed back to Aug. 22.
The description of Trump as a “stooge” and the claim that Russia’s approach is “working” are Heinrich’s characterizations. The executive order itself cites only the national-interest certification provided for in the law, and the White House and Treasury have described the waiver as a pause tied to peace negotiations and energy prices. The White House had not responded publicly to Heinrich’s post as of Monday.