The tweet: “Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!”

In a Twitter message, Trump described America’s relationship with Russia as “at an all-time & very dangerous low.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump blamed Congress on Thursday for the United States’ poor relationship with Russia, a day after he signed sanctions legislation that he said was flawed and unconstitutional.

The new law, which also includes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, limits Trump’s ability to change restrictions on Russia and is a reflection of bipartisan concern that Trump would ease punishments for the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and meddling in the 2016 presidential election. In blaming Congress for the poor relations, Trump omits assigning responsibility to President Vladimir Putin of Russia for his role in Crimea, for violating a landmark arms control treaty with the deployment of a new cruise missile, and for interference in elections in the United States and Europe.

Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona and a strong supporter of the sanctions bill, disagreed with the president.


McCain’s tweet: “Our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbors & threatening our allies.”

New York Times

President set for vacation

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump once questioned the wisdom of taking vacations. ‘‘What’s the point?’’ he asked.

But now the president is getting ready to join the annual August exodus from the city he calls ‘‘the swamp.’’ Trump is due Friday to begin his first extended vacation from Washington since the inauguration: 17 days at his private golf club in central New Jersey.

The vacation could be driven in part by necessity. Everyone who works in the White House West Wing, including the Oval Office occupant, must clear out by the end of the week so that the government can replace a balky, 27-year-old heating and cooling system.


The White House hasn’t been entertaining questions about the president’s August plans. Asked whether Trump would leave Washington this month, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday: ‘‘We’ll continue to keep you guys updated on his August schedule as those details are finalized.’’

Trump and his supporters like to publicize his disdain for taking vacations, when the truth is that he takes them constantly.

‘‘Don’t take vacations. What’s the point? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job,’’ Trump wrote in his 2004 book, ‘‘Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.’’

Actually, Trump gets out of town quite often. So far, he has spent 13 of 28 weekends in office away from the White House, mostly at his properties in Palm Beach, Fla., or in Bedminster, N.J., according to an Associated Press count. The figures include a weekend during official travel overseas, and Father’s Day weekend at Camp David in Maryland.

Contrast Trump’s frequent getaways with his criticism, before and during last year’s presidential campaign, of former President Barack Obama’s vacations and frequent golf outings.

‘‘@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic,’’ Trump tweeted in August 2011.

Trump said last year that he wouldn’t have time for golf if he became president. ‘‘I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf,’’ he told supporters in Virginia. But he plays golf whenever he’s at his clubs; sometimes it’s the full 18 holes, other times less than that. His staff rarely acknowledges that he plays, even when photos of him on the course pop up on social media.


Associated Press

EPA backs off ozone rules

WASHINGTON — One day after 15 states sued him, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt backtracked on delaying Obama-era rules intended to reduce emissions of smog-causing air pollutants.

Pruitt contended his agency was being more responsive than past administrations to states’ needs. He made no mention Wednesday of the legal challenges to his earlier stand.

At issue is an Oct. 1 deadline for states to begin meeting standards for ground-level ozone. Pruitt said in June that he would hold off compliance by one year so the EPA had more time to study the plan and avoid ‘‘interfering with local decisions or impeding economic growth.’’

In addition to the suit by a group of states led by New York, Pruitt was sued last month by a dozen public health and environmental groups, including the American Lung Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Sierra Club. The EPA was required to file a response in that case by Thursday.

Pruitt has long opposed stricter environmental rules. At the EPA, he repeatedly has acted to block or delay regulations opposed by the chemical and fossil-fuel industries.

Wednesday’s reversal was the latest legal setback for his agenda.

Last month, a federal Appeals Court in Washington ruled that Pruitt overstepped his authority in trying to stall an Obama administration rule that oil and gas companies monitor and reduce methane leaks.


Associated Press

Sanctuary cities threatened

WASHINGTON — US Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved Thursday to again punish so-called sanctuary cities, this time threatening to deny federal crime-fighting resources to four cities beset by violence if they don’t step up efforts to help detain and deport people living in the country illegally.

The Justice Department sent letters to cities struggling with gun violence, telling them they will be ineligible for a new program that aims to root out drug trafficking and gang crime unless they give federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice before releasing someone in custody who is wanted on immigration violations.

The cities — Baltimore, Albuquerque, and Stockton and San Bernardino in California — expressed interest in the Justice Department’s Public Safety Partnership, which enlists federal agents, analysts, and technology to help communities find solutions to crime.

The threat marks Sessions’ latest effort to force local authorities to cooperate with immigration authorities.