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White House Says Trump Will Sign Bill Curbing His Power Over Sanctions

President Donald Trump will sign a bill that sanctions North Korea, Russia and Iran and nixes his power to end those penalties.

By: Grant Suneson

Posted at 11:20 AM, Jul 29, 2017

and last updated 2017-07-29 11:20:30-04

The White House announced President Donald Trump will sign legislation that sanctions Russia, Iran and North Korea — and restricts his power to change that.

There was some uncertainty about whether Trump would sign the bill, mostly because it included a provision that prevents him from nixing those penalties.

But even if Trump had vetoed the bill, it would have been purely symbolic. Both the House and Senate easily had the votes to override it.

Some lawmakers are concerned about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Intelligence agencies determined Putin ordered the 2016 election meddling. Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and said he wanted to patch up U.S.-Russia relations.

In retaliation for the bill, Russia said it would boot American diplomats from the country and seize recreation areas those diplomats used.