US relations with Russia have hit a “very dangerous low”, President Trump said yesterday as he accused fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill of risking a new Cold War by limiting his power to make deals with the Kremlin.
“Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low,” Mr Trump said on Twitter.
“You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us [healthcare reform]!”
John McCain, the veteran Republican senator, shot back: “Our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbours & threatening our allies.”
Russia-related issues have plagued the White House for months and yesterday Mr Trump’s troubles mounted. It emerged last night that a grand jury has been enrolled in Washington as part of a federal investigation into whether the president’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin.
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The grand jury was enlisted at the request of Robert Mueller, the former FBI chief who was appointed to lead a special counsel inquiry into Russia’s alleged meddling in the US election. Its creation suggests that his investigation is gathering pace.
Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, told The Wall Street Journal: “This is yet a further sign that there is a long-term, large-scale series of prosecutions being contemplated and being pursued by the special counsel.”
Grand jury subpoenas were issued last year in connection with an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server and no charges resulted.
In 1998 Bill Clinton, then president, gave testimony to a grand jury as part of the special prosecutor investigation that evolved into the Monica Lewinsky scandal; he would be impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
Mr Trump has flatly denied having any improper ties to Russia. Mr Mueller, however, has a mandate to follow where the evidence leads him. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Greg Andres, a senior partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, a respected New York law firm, had joined Mr Mueller’s team. A lawyer of that calibre would not make such a move unless there was serious work to do, experts said.
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Hours earlier Mr Trump had lashed out at Congress after it pushed him to sign into law a new package of sanctions on Moscow. The bill, curtailing western investment in the Russian energy sector and banking, included an unusual provision that will stop Mr Trump from lifting the sanctions without permission from Capitol Hill.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, needled the US president: “The Trump administration has shown its total weakness by handing over executive power to Congress in the most humiliating way,” he said on Facebook. “This changes the balance of power in US political circles.”
Mr Trump signed the sanctions bill on Wednesday under duress, arguing that it would handicap his efforts to “strike good deals for the American people”. The bill had sailed through House and Senate, suggesting that any attempt by Mr Trump to veto it would have been overridden.
With Mr Trump having lost one Russia-related showdown with Congress, another looms. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are pushing the White House to break a nuclear arms treaty with Moscow that has stood since 1987.
Bills proceeding through both legislative chambers would force the Pentagon to begin developing a new generation of medium-range, vehicle-mounted cruise missiles. Such weapons were banned by the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed 30 years ago by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
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The White House has urged Congress to drop the demand, arguing that it would “raise concerns among Nato allies”. Members of Congress have argued, however, that Russia has already breached the treaty and that the US risks falling behind.
It also emerged yesterday that Mr Trump had clashed with his military advisers and that during a tense meeting in the White House situation room last month he proposed firing General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan. “We aren’t winning,” he said of America’s longest war, an assessment shared by the US military.
Shrugging off the scandal in Washington, Mr Trump held a campaign-style rally last night in Huntington, West Virginia, the state where he has the highest approval rating. He was given a boost when Jim Justice, the governor, announced that he would switch parties from Democrat to Republican.
