U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order Wednesday to punish any foreign interference in U.S. elections, in the latest attempt by the administration to show its resolution to fight against election meddling, said U.S. officials.

The order will direct the intelligence community to assess if any foreign individual, entity or country has interfered in a U.S. election, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told reporters at a conference call held Wednesday at noon.

After an up-to-45-day assessing period, the gathered information will be passed to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who also have 45 days to decide if they should go forward with the sanctions, explained National Security Advisor John Bolton who joined the call.

The sanctions will be automatically triggered if any foreign interference has been found, said Coats, adding that the U.S. State and Treasury departments, sharing the intelligence information, could impose additional sanctions “if the automatic sanctions we deem is not enough.”

The sanctions could include blocking the assets of the individuals and entities within the U.S. jurisdiction, prohibiting U.S. individuals and entities from engaging in transactions with or investing in the entities involved.

(Xinhua)