The technical explanation is this: Apparently Russian border and customs officials are connected to the F.S.B., so theoretically, any visit to Russia that involves payment of a border tax is a violation of sanctions — it would be material support to the F.S.B. That goes well beyond former President Barack Obama’s intent.

The adjustment keeps the sanctions focused on the intelligence unit of the agency.

“I haven’t eased anything,” Mr. Trump told reporters as he was meeting with Harley-Davidson executives, and he was telling the truth.

Still, whatever the intention, Russian officials spun the move as a signal that the Trump administration was paving the way for improved relations with their government. The Russian news agency TASS described the move as an easing of sanctions against Moscow, and quoted Nikolai Kovalyov, the former head of the F.S.B., responding: “This shows that actual joint work on establishing an anti-terrorism coalition is about to begin. This is the first step on the way leading to cooperation in the war on terror.”

Pelosi offers help with presidential mental health bill

Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, on Thursday enthusiastically volunteered to cosponsor not-yet-written legislation addressing the president’s physical, and mental, fitness, promised from an unlikely source: the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Allowing herself a brief tangent in her weekly press conference, Ms. Pelosi said she “can’t wait” until the committee’s chairman, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, introduces a promised bill that would require presidential and vice presidential candidates to submit to an independent medical examination.

“I think it’s a very good idea,” Ms. Pelosi said, grinning.

Ms. Pelosi was referring to a recent remark that Mr. Chaffetz made to the Washington Post’s editorial board, inserted at the end of a column about President Trump’s “erratic first week.”

In an interview Thursday, Mr. Chaffetz said his proposal, still in the development stages, would compel candidates to publicly release health details that might factor into a voter’s decision on Election Day. It would include any medications they are taking, which could have side effects that impair their decision-making abilities, he said.