Donald Trump signs bill imposing sanctions on Russia over 'election meddling'

Donald Trump has passed a bill that imposes new sanctions on Russia after days of speculation whether he would sign it.

Trump has been opposed to issuing new sanctions, but the bill was overwhelmingly backed by Congress, placeing huge pressure on the president to sign it.

There had been concerns that Trump would veto the bill, which also issues further sanctions on Iran and North Korea. However he was warned that any such veto would face a backlash from politicians.

It is one of the first major bills to land on Trump's desk since becoming president in January, but the legislation imposes restrictions on Trump himself.

The bill gives Congress power to block Trump from removing Russian sanctions.

The Trump administration had tried to water down the bill, but failed in its attempts to do so.

The House of Representatives and the Senate left the US president with little possibility of overruling Congress after senators voted 98-2 in favour of the bill, and representatives voted 419-3.

Retaliating to the new sanctions, Russia has said that 755 American diplomats must leave the country.

Trump has been accused of a Russia conspiracy long before taking office.

The topic has become a frustration he regularly airs on Twitter, calling questions about his campaign's links to Russia a "witch hunt" against him.