WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Friday abruptly announced the cancellation of sanctions imposed by his own Treasury Department to tighten international pressure on North Korea.

“It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” Trump said in a tweet.

He appeared to be referring to measures unveiled Thursday that targeted two Chinese companies accused of helping North Korea to evade tight international sanctions meant to pressure Pyongyang into ending its nuclear weapons program.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

They were the first new sign of pressure since talks between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down in Hanoi less than a month ago. However, Trump, who has previously spoken of “love” for the totalitarian leader, appears to retain hope that his strong personal relationship will bear fruit.

“President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” the president’s spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, said.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat who heads the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives, blasted Trump for cancelling sanctions “imposed only yesterday and championed by his own national security adviser, because he ‘loves’ Kim.”

“Foolish naivete is dangerous enough. Gross incompetence and disarray in the White House make it even worse,” Schiff tweeted.

On Thursday, Trump national security adviser John Bolton had tweeted that the sanctions were meant to put an end to “illicit shipping practices” by North Korea.

“Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion,” he said.

China complained, saying that it did enforce all UN resolutions and opposed “any country imposing unilateral sanctions and taking long-arm jurisdiction against any Chinese entity according to their own domestic laws.”

This was Trump’s second major, unexpected foreign policy announcement by Twitter in two days. On Thursday, he sent a tweet reversing decades of US policy and pledged to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the hotly contested Golan Heights border area with Syria.</s>President Trump abruptly announced Friday that he was withdrawing sanctions on North Korea, immediately after his own Treasury Department imposed them.

“It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon.

This was an apparent reference to sanctions the Treasury Department had announced Thursday on Chinese shipping companies doing business with North Korea. Those sanctions prompted swift pushback from the Chinese and North Korean governments.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SLAPS NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN

When asked about the president’s tweet, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said: “President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

The president's unusual move comes after his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, held last month in Hanoi, Vietnam. Trump walked out of that summit after refusing to agree to the North’s demands of lifting all sanctions.

In what had been a move to ratchet up pressure further, the Treasury Department on Thursday had imposed the sanctions on two Chinese-based companies to highlight “the deceptive methods that the North Korean regime uses to circumvent international and U.S. sanctions, as well as the U.S. Government’s commitment to implement existing UN Security Council resolutions.”

“The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related UN Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement Thursday. “Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk.”

KIM JONG UN WILLING TO SIT DOWN WITH TRUMP AGAIN, NORTH KOREA STATE MEDIA SAYS

On Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry pushed back on the sanctions, saying that they “resolutely oppose any country imposing unilateral sanctions and long-armed jurisdiction over Chinese entities under its own domestic laws.”

“We have made solemn complaints with the U.S. on this matter, urging the U.S. to immediately stop such mistakes, so as not to affect the cooperation between the two sides on relevant issues,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, adding that any Chinese enterprises and individuals would be investigated according to China’s laws.

Fox News' Kellianne Jones, Kristin Brown and David Nath contributed to this report.</s>Huggy finds it so odd that Kellyanne Conway allows Donald Trump to talk crazy about her husband. He calls him Mr. Kellyanne Conway and the First Husband. But that’s not it, he called him a “total loser,” and she has not stood up for her man! What’s wrong with her?</s>The President reportedly lifted the sanctions because he "likes" Kim Jong Un, according to White House staff

President Trump has decided to lift new sanctions imposed on North Korea by the Treasury Department just one day ago.

“It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!” Trump declared in a message over Twitter.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders explained the surprising about-face by the President by saying that “President Trump likes Chairman Kim [Jong Un] and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” per CNBC.

The sanctions Trump is referring to involve two Chinese shipping companies which the Treasury Department designated yesterday as attempting to circumvent US and international sanctions on North Korea. The President appeared to confuse the date of the new actions against the shipping companies, which occurred Thursday rather than Friday as he stated in his tweet.

These new sanctions are the first the Treasury Department has imposed on North Korea since the end of last year. The President’s reversal also comes just over a month after his Hanoi summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fell through without any deal for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

When announcing the original punishment for the shipping companies in violation of existing sanctions, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin issued a statement describing the implementation of the sanctions as “crucial” to North Korean denuclearization:

“The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related U.N. Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome,” he said per The New York Times.

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton had also noted over Twitter after the sanctions were first announced that “everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure that they are not involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion.”

The confusing move by Trump to undo his administration’s work seemingly on a whim is only the latest in a long line of odd policy decisions out of the White House. John E. Smith, the former director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, was scathing in his critique of the news:

“For an administration that continues to surprise, this is another first — the president of the United States undercutting his own sanctions agency for imposing sanctions on Chinese actors supporting North Korea,” he said. “It’s a win for North Korea and China and a loss for U.S. credibility.”</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he would lift sanctions his Treasury Department had just announced it would impose on two Chinese shipping companies for allegedly violating existing prohibitions on providing goods and transportation services to North Korea.

"It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea," Trump wrote on Twitter. "I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!"

The sanctions — which the White House did not immediately confirm that the president's tweet was in reference to — were actually announced Thursday by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is an agency under the Treasury Department.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explained the president's decision as a courtesy to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom Trump broke off denuclearization talks in Hanoi last month.

"President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary," Sanders said.

But, at a time when Trump is eager to strike a trade deal with China, the relief from sanctions that Treasury officials imposed may go over well in Beijing.

In announcing the sanctions Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. government wanted to make clear to shipping companies that they could not do business with North Korea.

"The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related UN Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome," Mnuchin said. "Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk."

However, senior Trump administration officials also said Thursday that "the door is wide open" to more talks with North Korea, telling reporters that President Trump remains "personally engaged" and also wants contacts to occur on the working level, although they wouldn't disclose whether any such contacts have occurred since the summit between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</s>WASHINGTON — President Trump undercut his own Treasury Department on Friday by announcing that he was rolling back North Korea sanctions that it imposed just a day ago.

The move, announced on Twitter, was a remarkable display of dissension within the Trump administration and showed how actively the White House is intervening in policies that are traditionally handled by career officials in the Treasury and State Departments. Trump appeared to confuse the day that the North Korea sanctions were announced, saying that it occurred Friday rather than Thursday.

“It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” Trump said on Twitter. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”

On Thursday, the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies that it says have been helping the country evade international sanctions. The sanctions linked to North Korea were the first that the Treasury Department had imposed since late last year and came less than a month after a summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, collapsed in Hanoi without a deal.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said the decision was a favor to Kim.

“President Trump likes Chairman Kim, and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary,” she said.

Also Friday, Pyongyang abruptly withdrew its staff from the liaison office with South Korea in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, a development that is likely to put a damper on ties between the countries and further complicate global diplomacy on the North’s nuclear program.

It didn’t say whether the withdrawal would be temporary or permanent.</s>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he would lift sanctions his Treasury Department had just announced it would impose on two Chinese shipping companies for allegedly violating existing prohibitions on providing goods and transportation services to North Korea.

"It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea," Trump wrote on Twitter. "I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!"

The sanctions — which the White House did not immediately confirm that the president's tweet was in reference to — were actually announced Thursday by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is an agency under the Treasury Department.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explained the president's decision as a courtesy to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom Trump broke off denuclearization talks in Hanoi last month.

"President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary," Sanders said.

Victor Cha, a former National Security Council official and an MSNBC contributor, said that Trump's decision had undercut law enforcement and sent a message to Kim that he won't ramp up sanctions. While it's good that Trump wants to continue diplomatic discussions with Kim, Cha said, the tweet had also sent the wrong signal to other countries about U.S. policy.

For years, the U.S. has used the threat and imposition of sanctions to deter individuals, companies and foreign governments from doing business with the North Korean regime to squeeze that nation's economy and pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program.

At a time when Trump is eager to strike a trade deal with China, the relief from sanctions that Treasury officials imposed may also go over well in Beijing.

In announcing the sanctions Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. government wanted to make clear to shipping companies that they could not do business with North Korea.

“The United States and our like-minded partners remain committed to achieving the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and believe that the full implementation of North Korea-related UN Security Council resolutions is crucial to a successful outcome,” Mnuchin said. “Treasury will continue to enforce our sanctions, and we are making it explicitly clear that shipping companies employing deceptive tactics to mask illicit trade with North Korea expose themselves to great risk.”

However, senior Trump administration officials also said Thursday that “the door is wide open” to more talks with North Korea, telling reporters that President Trump remains “personally engaged” and also wants contacts to occur on the working level, although they wouldn’t disclose whether any such contacts have occurred since the summit between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.</s>On Thursday, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies that it said were delivering crude oil to North Korea in violation of international sanctions. On Friday, President Donald Trump rolled these sanctions back.

The move stunned former Treasury officials who worked on sanctions.

John Smith, the former director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said he was shocked by the president’s action and called it “a scandal.”

“The president undercut the hard working men and women of his sanctions agency and senior political officials across the government that must have had a hand in approving this decision, all to benefit the leader of North Korea,” Smith said in an interview.

Trump’s February meeting in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended without a deal to denuclearize North Korea.

Smith served at OFAC for eleven years — spanning the younger Bush, Obama and Trump administrations — including three as director.

“It has long been the policy of the U.S. government that the U.S. would not ease sanctions on North Korea until the country dismantled their nuclear weapons program and the ballistic missile program that threatens not only South Korea but the West Coast of the United States. In one fell swoop, the president undercut that policy that has stretched across administrations,” Smith said.

Placing sanctions on foreign firms are implemented at the direction of the White House’s national security staff and have to receive written approval from the treasury secretary and the secretary of state.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders put Trump’s move in personal terms by saying: “President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

Earlier Friday, North Korea pulled its staff out of a joint liaison office that it had opened with South Korea in September. Analysts said this meant North Korea was miffed that the U.S. had not eased sanctions.

Want news about Asia delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Asia Daily newsletter. Sign up here.</s>WASHINGTON — President Trump undercut his own Treasury Department on Friday by announcing that he was rolling back North Korea sanctions that it imposed just a day ago.

The move, announced on Twitter, was a remarkable display of dissension within the Trump administration and showed how actively the White House is intervening in policies that are traditionally handled by career officials in the Treasury and State Departments. Mr. Trump appeared to confuse the day that the North Korea sanctions were announced, saying that it occurred on Friday rather than on Thursday.

“It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”

On Thursday, the Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies that it says have been helping the country evade international sanctions. The sanctions linked to North Korea were the first that the Treasury Department had imposed since late last year and came less than a month after a summit meeting between Mr. Trump and Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, collapsed in Hanoi, Vietnam, without a deal.</s>WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US President Donald Trump on Friday (March 22) said he was ordering the withdrawal of recently announced North Korea-related sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department.

"It was announced today by the US Treasury that additional large-scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea," Trump said on Twitter.

"I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!"

It was not immediately clear what sanctions Trump was referring to. There were no new US sanctions on North Korea announced on Friday but on Thursday the United States blacklisted two Chinese shipping companies that it said helped North Korea evade sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders did not specify which sanctions Trump spoke of but said: "President Trump likes Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and he doesn't think these sanctions will be necessary."

The sanctions on the Chinese shippers were the first since the second US-North Korea summit broke down last month. Hours after the sanctions announcement, North Korea on Friday pulled out of a liaison office with the South, a major setback for Seoul.

North Korea said it was quitting the joint liaison office set up in September in the border city of Kaesong after a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in early last year.
U.S. President Donald Trump removes sanctions targeting North Korea that were imposed Thursday by the Treasury Department on two Chinese companies.