Trump pledges to scale back use of sanctions

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has promised to drastically reduce the use of sanctions by the US if he wins the election in November.

During an appearance at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday, Trump was asked if he plans to “strengthen or modify” Washington’s economic restrictions on Russia and other countries.

“I want to use sanctions as little as possible,” he replied, explaining 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.”

It is “important” for the dollar to remain the international reserve currency, the former president insisted.

“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.

Trump, who slapped various restrictions on Russia, Iran and North Korea during his term in office between 2017 and 2021, acknowledged that he himself has been the “user of sanctions.”

“I use sanctions very powerfully against countries that deserve it. And then I take them off because, look, you are losing Iran, you are losing Russia. China is out there trying to get their currency to be the dominant currency… all of these things are happening,” he said.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin insisted earlier this week that “no other [US] president has ever imposed so many restrictions and sanctions against Russia” as Trump.

Commenting on Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Putin said she has “a very contagious laugh, which shows that everything is fine for her… but if everything is so great for Ms Harris, maybe she would refrain from acting this way [if she wins the election]?”

The US and its allies have imposed a record 22,000 sanctions on Moscow since 2014, when Crimea rejoined Russia and a conflict between Ukraine and the Donbass republics broke out following a Western-backed coup in Kiev. The number of curbs skyrocketed after the launch of Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have condemned the sanctions as illegal, responding with travel bans on Western officials and other moves.

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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 told the paper that there is chaos at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), as it can no longer handle the workload of maintaining such a complex web of economic penalties.