How Trump's Treasury is shifting sanctions to punish his critics and reward friends - NPR

The Trump administration's Treasury Department is allegedly using sanctions authority to target political critics while exempting allies, according to NPR's reporting. Sanctions have traditionally been deployed as a foreign policy tool against adversaries and human rights violators, but the shift suggests they're being weaponized for domestic political purposes. This raises concerns about the politicization of economic enforcement mechanisms that Congress designed to advance U.S. national security interests. The practice could undermine the credibility of sanctions as a serious diplomatic instrument and potentially invite reciprocal targeting of American officials and interests abroad. The reporting indicates a departure from how previous administrations, regardless of party, have typically managed the sanctions apparatus.