The absence of Russia on the president’s new list of countries that he’ll hit with steep tariffs did not go unnoticed on social media. Critics were quick to accuse Trump of kowtowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Trump has for years expressed his admiration of.

Russia and North Korea were excluded from Trump's tariff list as neither country engages in meaningful trade relations with the United States.

Years of increasingly severe sanctions may have made its inclusion in Donald Trump’s tariffs list unnecessary, but Russia has nevertheless managed to import goods for $22 billion into the United States since 2022,