Sanctions Strike as Trump Targets Putin’s War Chest

1. Purpose of the Sanctions

• The sanctions aim to cripple Russia’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine by targeting its oil revenue, which is a major source of economic and military support.
• The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control stated the move is intended to degrade Russia’s war machine and economy.

2. Political Context

• The sanctions follow a canceled meeting between Trump and Putin, signaling rising tensions and frustration.
• Trump’s administration is positioning this as a shift toward “peace through strength”, emphasizing economic pressure over diplomacy.

3. Economic Implications

• Russia may be forced to lower oil prices or reduce production, both of which would hurt its economy.
• The sanctions could lead to global oil price spikes and affect energy markets.
• The effectiveness depends on international coordination, especially with major buyers like India and China.

4. Domestic Political Support

• There is bipartisan support in Congress for the sanctions.
• Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Mullin both expressed strong backing, framing the move as overdue and necessary.
• Trump described the sanctions as “very big and tremendous,” indicating a serious escalation.

5. Strategic Considerations

• The podcast suggests this is just the first step in a broader strategy, potentially including:
  • Secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil.
  • Tariffs on Russian oil imports.
  • Military aid to Ukraine via European purchases.

6. Diplomatic Messaging

• The sanctions are also framed as a lever for diplomacy, with calls for a ceasefire.
• Trump’s rhetoric and canceled meeting with Putin reflect a hardening stance after failed diplomatic efforts.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's about three hundred million dollars. It's set to do
many many things, including meetings of foreign leaders, including the
honoring of foreign leaders, and it's being paid for one
hundred percent by me and some friends of mine donors
to it. The government's pangs absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Good Thursday morning. It's signs to have you with us
on the forty seven Morning Update. Ben Ferguson with you,
and I can tell you there is one major story.
Democrats lie to you yet again, claiming Donald Trump would
never stand up to Vladimir Putin after their meeting in Alaska.
We now know that there are major Russian sanctions and
the President is returning peace through strength, showing Russia that

(00:46):
it's time to get a deal now or you're going
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Speaker 2 (02:47):
Story number one.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
It is very clear that President Donald Trump is a
man who is on a mission to have peace through
strength wherever he canon stop senseless wars. We've seen the
deal that he's done in the Middle East, and we
now know that he's turned towards what's happening in Russia
and Ukraine. Well, there has been some late developments and
the US has announced new sanctions the target Russia's two

(03:13):
largest oil companies, Rosneff and Luke Oil, including many of
their subsidiaries. These sanctions marked the first time in Trump's
second term that his administration has placed new sanctions on
Russia over the Ukraine War. So much for Russian collusion,
as the media lied to you about for years. The

(03:36):
US Treasury, through the Office of the Foreign Assets Control,
explicitly said the move is meant to degrade Russia's ability
to fund its war machine and hurt its economy, because
if you know what's going on in Russia, you know
they're barely staying alive economically because of the oil that

(03:56):
they're selling.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Now.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
The announcement came shortly after a plan meeting between Donald
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was canceled, signaling escalating
frustration by the White House and Donald Trump. He meant
it when he said it was time for peace. Now
Here are the implications and the likely effects of what

(04:18):
the President has just done. The economic pressure on Russia
is real because Russia's war is costing them a lot
of money, and by targeting Russia's biggest oil companies, the
US is going after one of the major revenue resources
that supports Russia's military and also is propping up its economy,

(04:38):
which is teetering. This could force Russia to either lower
the price of its oil, thus reducing revenue, or reduce
production and exports. Both of those options hurt its financial
stability and their ability to sustain large scale war for
a extended period of time. Now there's also pressure for

(05:00):
diplomacy and a ceasefire. The Treasury Secretary's Scott Descent said
the sanctions are meant to support peace efforts, saying quote,
now is the time to stop the killing and for
an immediate ceasefire. So the sanctions are being framed partly
as a lever for diplomacy, not just punishment. Russia has

(05:23):
deep trade and energy links with major buyers. This includes
India and China, who is taking a significant amount of
their oil that might not be fully impacted by the
US sanctions alone. Analysts say, we'll have to wait and see,
but what we do know is the sanctions depend heavily

(05:43):
on enforcement and also on US allies joining and coordinating
in the sanctioned effort. If other big buyers continue business,
the impact will be weaker than we need it to be,
and there are possible global markets effects as well, spikes
and all prices if Russia's supply is constrained. This is

(06:05):
part of the reason why the president said we need
to become energy independent, going back to Drill, Baby Drill.
The fact that this is the first new sanction in
Trump's second term also suggests there may have been internal
or strategic hesitations earlier on to give a chance also
for there to be real conversations that deal with peace.

(06:27):
It remains to be seen if the pressure will persist
or if Donald Trump plans on ratcheting up the pressure,
which brings me to the announcement Center. Mullen on the
new Russian sanction speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN, this
is what he had to say about the new move.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
Do you think that there needs to be even harsher sanctions?
And the reason I ask is because obviously August fifteenth,
I believe it was, was the summit in Alaska where
President Trump was hoping that Vladimir Putin would agree to
any sort of ceasefire, and not only did he not
get a cease fire, Putin since the US literally rolled

(07:07):
out the carpet for him in the United States of
America on American land, Putin has upped the tenor of
the war. Some of the worst attacks on Ukraine have
happened since then. And I'm wondering if President Trump you
think needs to be even more aggressive.

Speaker 5 (07:24):
Well, this is step one. The President and Congress has
talked multiple times what the next step might be. We
have been in briefed or we've been in briefings, we've
been in classified settings. This is literally the first step
to put more pressure on Russia. If we need to
I believe we probably will. I don't think Putin if

(07:45):
someone is going to pay attention the first time his
hand has slapped, I think you're going to see this
get ratcheted up farther and farther to the point to
where either we're going to bring them to their knees economically,
or they're going to decide that fighting the Ukraine isn't
worth it. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised
if you start seeing us give the accessibility to new

(08:05):
weapons for Europe to buy for Ukraine to be able
to fight against Russia and their aggression in Ukraine. As
I said, Jake, this is just the first step. But
this is the first step of a lot of options
we have on the table.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
It's very clear, as you could hear there from cinner Mullin,
that this is a new path forward. We tried to
have well diplomacy work, and obviously Vladimir Putin is not
working in that way. So as he described it, we
can bring them to their knees economically, or they can
decide that fighting Ukraine isn't worth it. It's the first
step of a lot of options we have on the table.

(08:43):
And there also seems to be real unity behind this idea,
as you know that Senators are behind it. But what
is the House side saying. Mike Johnson on the Russian sanctions.
Here's what he had to say as well.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
Now, and thank you so much for being here, Speaker Johnson,
because you had said before that you thought sanctions on
Russia were long overdue.

Speaker 6 (09:03):
In your words, do you think that these moves tonight
go far enough. Well, it's a very important step. We
applaud the president. He's returning peace through strength, and that's
a common theme now that we've seen exhibited around the globe,
the strength of his personality. You heard the UN Secretary General,
who you caught earlier this afternoon, he said, in his
own words, President Trump is the only figure on the

(09:24):
planet strong enough to help bring an end of that war.
And you have to compel Russia to engage in the
peace process. They've shown they cannot be trusted.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
There's a big.

Speaker 6 (09:33):
Appetite in Congress to have sanctions like this, and I
think it's a very important step.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yet again, you see unity between Republicans and the Senate,
Republicans in the House and the President of the United
States of America, which brings us back to what Trump
has now said about these new sanctions. Trump said of
the sanctions, quote, it was time. He described the sanction
on Russia's oil giants as very big and tremendous. During

(09:59):
a meeting with the NATO Secretary General, he expressed that
the meeting with Putin was canceled because it didn't feel
right to me. It didn't feel like we were going
to get to the place we have to get. Earlier
this year, Trump threatened tariffs and secondary sanctions if Russia
did not agree to a cease fire. For example, he

(10:22):
said he might impose a twenty five to fifty percent
tariff on oil from Russia on countries buying Russian oil.
Trump also expressed frustration with Vladimir Putin, saying, quote, we
get a lot of bull blank thrown at us by Putin.
We want a deal, but we weren't seeing it. The
president also has backing the majority of Republicans support additional

(10:47):
economic sanctions on Russia. For example, a recent poll shows
eighty six percent of Republicans back further sanctions to force
an end to the war. Now, some Republicans, including those
in the White House, had also delayed pushing for sanction
legislation until a possible Trump Putin meeting, indicating hesitation that

(11:11):
if they did put the sanctions on beforehand, it could
actually hurt the talks. But now the President has made
it clear there's a shift, and it suggests that Trump
administration is moving or being pushed by conservatives for a
tougher stance on Russia that perhaps was not there weeks ago.

(11:31):
It also signals to Russia and to buyers of Russian
energy that the US is united and willing to escalate
economic tools, not just diplomacy, And for allies, the US
is implicitly inviting coordination. The Treasury statement, we encourage quote
our allies to join us, signaling that other countries may

(11:55):
want to do the exact same thing in their country
that America is doing right now. And finally, for Ukraine,
it may increase leverage by pressuring Russia, but it does
not automatically guarantee a cease fire or an end to
the war. When you're dealing with someone like Vladimir Putin,
who doesn't even care about his own people, this could

(12:15):
drag on. But for the global energy and trade flow
targeting Russia's oil sector, as President Trump has decided to
do can affect global markets and hurt Russia significantly, which
is exactly why the President of United States of America
is leading in this way. We also know that the
US will follow up with more sanctions Russian banks, on

(12:38):
buyers of Russian energy or shipping in transport to deepen
the pressure. There's a very good chance that is going
to be needed. And then what will happen to Russian
oil buyers like China and India? How will they respond.
What we do know now is this is a new
pathway in negotiations with President Trump and Vladimir Putin, and

(13:01):
it's clear Donald Trump isn't messing around.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
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