Trump to order sanctions on foreign companies that meddle in US elections: report

Reuters reported Tuesday that Trump could sign the order as soon as Wednesday. It would direct that sanctions be placed against overseas companies that U.S. intelligence found to have meddled in elections.

The United States has repeatedly slapped Russia with sanctions after U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the country had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. The White House declined to comment to Reuters.

Trump faced some criticism for not being tough enough against Russia earlier this year, after he appeared to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denials of interference in the 2016 election.

Trump later walked back his comments, claiming he misspoke at the leaders’ joint press conference and saying that he believed in U.S. intelligence’s findings on election interference.

The order would come just weeks ahead of November’s midterm elections. Intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, have warned of possible foreign meddling in the elections.

Microsoft announced earlier this year that it had detected and prevented hacking attempts against three congressional candidates. One of those candidates was later revealed to be Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

The tech giant also disclosed last month that it had shut down several fake websites created by Russian hackers that targeted the Senate and a pair of conservative think tanks.