Trump urges Iran’s addition to Russian sanctions bill: ‘What Lindsey wanted’
European security questions expose tensions between alliance obligations and American interests.
Eight nights of strikes on Iran and Trump's Sunday morning move is to tell Republicans on the Hill to fold Iran into the Russia sanctions bill because it's "what Lindsey wanted. " That's a strange way to sell hard policy, tying it to a colleague's wish list instead of laying out the strategic case on its own terms. But it's also very Trump, and it tells you something about how this White House operates.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
President Donald Trump urged Republicans to add Iran to the Russian sanctions bill, invoking former Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memory in support. In a Sunday morning post on Truth Social, writing hours after hitting Iran in the eighth consecutive night of major strikes by U.S.
Central Command forces, the president sought to hit Tehran with another […]
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Eight nights of strikes on Iran and Trump's Sunday morning move is to tell Republicans on the Hill to fold Iran into the Russia sanctions bill because it's "what Lindsey wanted." That's a strange way to sell hard policy, tying it to a colleague's wish list instead of laying out the strategic case on its own terms. But it's also very Trump, and it tells you something about how this White House operates. He reaches for a stalled bill everybody in the Senate already halfway agrees on and grafts his current fight onto it rather than starting a new legislative fire he'd have to fight alone.
Say what you want about the timing, but the substance isn't crazy. If American forces are actively hitting Iranian targets, having sanctions law that already treats Tehran the way it treats Moscow closes an obvious gap. Iran and Russia have been leaning on each other for drones, oil workarounds and diplomatic cover for years now. Legislation that only punishes one half of that partnership was always going to look thin the moment things got hot, and things have gotten hot.
Where we'd push back is on the packaging. Naming a colleague's pet cause as the reason to move is a fine one-liner on Truth Social, but it's not how you build the votes you need for something this consequential. Congress should be debating Iran sanctions on the actual state of the conflict, the actual intelligence, and the actual risk of escalation, not on sentiment. Trump got the instinct right here. He should let the argument stand on its own weight instead of leaning on a nickname to carry it.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.