President Donald Trump announced in an unexpected tweet that he would be reversing North Korea-linked sanctions that his administration announced just a day earlier.
On Thursday, the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions against two Chinese shipping companies that allegedly helped North Korea evade sanctions targeting its nuclear weapons program.
However, Trump took to Twitter on Friday to say he has “ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions.” He did not provide more details on which sanctions he was referring to, though it is widely reported to be linked to the Treasury’s announcement on Thursday.
Trump’s tweet, which confused many, described the Treasury’s sanctions, which he incorrectly said were announced Friday, as “large scale Sanctions” that were “added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the reversal of the new sanctions to the White House press pool, noting that Trump liked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“President Trump likes Chairman Kim, and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” she said.
The dueling announcements come nearly a month after Trump and Kim’s second summit in Vietnam as the two leaders failed to reach an agreement over the isolated country’s nuclear program.