'What's The Status Of The Relief That The President Promised?': State Department Spokesperson Pressed On Syria

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During a State Department press briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about sanctions on Syria and Venezuela.

Transcript

00:00Yes, sir.

00:00Thanks, Amy.

00:01Two, I think, should be quick ones on sanctions.

00:04One, can you just explain the discrepancy or apparent discrepancy between what Secretary

00:09Rubio tweeted last night on Venezuela's sanctions and what Special Envoy Grinnell said, the

00:15Secretary saying that they would, the Chevron waiver would not be extended and Special Envoy

00:21Grinnell saying it would be.

00:23And then just secondly, on Sudan, sorry, Syria sanctions.

00:27Sure.

00:27Just, what's the status of the relief that the President promised last week?

00:34Well, I can tell you that the Secretary did, he put up a tweet making it clear where we

00:39stand on Chevron, which is a license, which is due to expire in May.

00:45And what I will speak to is not what others have said, but certainly the people who are

00:49in charge of the nature of what we are doing, and that is Secretary Rubio making it clear

00:54that that license is going to expire.

00:57And so that's what I take my lead from, is his remarks in that regard.

01:03So there's no confusion.

01:04I think many people on every issue can have a lot of opinions, but I think clearly who we

01:12look to are the people who have the power to have the impact and who make the decision.

01:15And, of course, this is at the direction of President Trump as well.

01:21About Syria.

01:22Yes, it was a very exciting moment.

01:25I was in Riyadh and in the building when President Trump announced that he was lifting the sanctions

01:30on Syria.

01:31That is something that we've discussed, and many people have wondered when that would occur.

01:35And clearly the President decided now was the time.

01:39And I do know that, of course, there's a team of people who immediately started working on

01:45that, who are working on it now.

01:47There is, of course, it's worth noting that the President has some powers in the nature of

01:53what can get done.

01:54But sanctions are administered through different departments in this country.

01:58So it is, his was a message and certainly the order to reverse our dynamic, to remove

02:05the sanctions, which involves departments like the Treasury Department.

02:09So it is a process that will take some time.

02:15But as we know with the Trump administration, that they've sped up the train a bit.

02:20And they understand the importance of getting things done quickly, and that is the intention

02:25of getting things done quickly as they take the order from the President from that afternoon.

02:32And we're working on it.

02:33It's been a week.

02:34But I do think, because of not just the urgency, but they understand the urgency, but of the

02:39recognition of this administration, the government as a whole, of how the President works, that

02:46things have to happen and should happen as quickly as possible.

02:49So all I can say is, without a specific date, is it will be done quickly, and certainly more

02:55quickly than we're used to.

02:57Thanks.

02:57All right.

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