CBS News- President Trump has signed a sweeping sanctions measure that targets Russia, Iran and North Korea, the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
The president's signature comes after some speculation that he could veto or not sign the legislation, whichpassed both chambers of Congress in overwhelming voteslast week. Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officialshad signaled, however, that Mr. Trump planned to sign the bill into law.
While he signed the bill, the president made clear in a statement Wednesday that he's signing the bill "for the sake of national unity" even though he isn'tsatisfied with some of its provisions.
"I favor tough measures to punish and deter bad behavior by the rogue regimes in Tehran and Pyongyang. I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization," he said.
He added, "Still, the bill remains seriously flawed particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch's authority to negotiate."
The bill maintains and expands sanctions against the Russian government. Most importantly, it will require congressional approval before the president can ease or lift sanctions on Russia. The measure also targets sanctions on Russian activities that undermine U.S. cybersecurity, sanctions on Russian crude oil projects and on certain transactions with foreign sanctions evaders and human rights abusers, among other things.
A day after the Senate passed the new set of sanctions,Russia's Foreign Ministry last Friday announced countermeasuresin which it set a Sept. 1 deadline for Washington to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in the country and ordered some U.S.-run facilities in Russia to close.
The measure alsotargets Iran's ballistic missile program, its support for terrorism and human rights violations, and yet it would still comply with the Iranian nuclear deal. Specifically, it imposes sanctions on any foreign person or foreign entity that does business with an entity already designated by the administration that has a connection to Iran's ballistic missile program. These sanctions, for example, could apply to any financial institution or any foreign company that provides key parts or components to Iran's missile program.
As for North Korea, it enforces compliance with United Nations shipping sanctions against North Korea and it imposes new sanctions in response to human rights abuses by the North Korean government and its bellicose behavior abroad.
Thebill came togetherin July after a series of road bumps that lawmakers encountered over the last several months.
TheU.S. intelligence community concluded in a report in early Januarythat Putin ordered a campaign involving covert intelligence operations and overt propaganda to undermine faith in the U.S. election, disparage Hillary Clinton and help Mr. Trump's election chances.
CBS News' Jillian Hughes contributed to this report.