The Sanctions on Russia That Never Came

There is a certain pattern to foreign-policy announcements from the Trump administration: A senior official foreshadows a new, tough announcement that’s widely applauded or criticized, depending on the policy. Later, it emerges that the president might actually want to do something else.

The latest example: a fresh round of sanctions against Russia for its role in enabling the recent Syrian chemical-weapons attack, specifically against companies thatthe U.S. sayshave facilitated Syria’s chemical-weapons program. The past few days have seen the UN ambassador announce new sanctions, only to be undercut 24 hours later, in two different ways, by the White House—with the press secretary saying Trump was still considering them, and an anonymous official