Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has expressed his desire to significantly reduce the use of sanctions by the United States if he secures victory in the upcoming election. During an appearance at the Economic Club of New York, Trump was questioned on whether he plans to strengthen or modify Washington’s economic restrictions on Russia and other nations.
I want to use sanctions as little as possible,” Trump replied, emphasizing that there is a problem with the extensive reliance on such penalties by the US because “ultimately it kills your dollar and it kills everything the dollar represents.” He further emphasized the importance of maintaining the dollar’s status as the international reserve currency.
If we lost the dollar as the world currency, I think that would be the equivalent of losing a war, that would make us a third-world country. And we cannot let it happen,” he said.
During his term in office between 2017 and 2021, Trump imposed various restrictions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea. He acknowledged his use of sanctions but emphasized that they should be employed judiciously against countries deserving of such measures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently claimed that no other US president has ever imposed as many restrictions and sanctions against Russia as Trump. In response to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Putin questioned the necessity for such strong actions if everything is going well in America.
The United States and its allies have imposed a record 22,000 sanctions on Moscow since 2014 when Crimea rejoined Russia and conflict broke out between Ukraine and the Donbass republics following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. The number of curbs increased dramatically after the launch of Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have condemned the sanctions as illegal, implementing travel bans on Western officials and other measures in response.
In July, the Washington Post reported that a third of the world’s nations, including 60% of low-income countries, are currently under some form of US sanctions. The sources cited chaos at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as it can no longer handle the workload of maintaining such an intricate web of economic penalties.