WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will announce a new, “largest ever” package of sanctions against North Korea Friday, targeting the regime’s shipping and trading abilities as the Winter Olympics come to a close in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, according to early excerpts from the president’s remarks to a conservative convention.
This is the latest U.S. effort to economically isolate the regime, as well as disrupt their shipping practices, in an attempt to curb its nuclear ambitions. Trump is expected to tell the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the sanctions against 56 total shipping companies, businesses, and shipping vessels will “further cut off sources of revenue and fuel that the regime uses to fund its nuclear program and sustain its military.”
Though past Trump CPAC speeches have tended to focus on domestic policy, he has strayed from the usual to announce his administration’s latest show of strength against Pyeongyang.
One day earlier, Vice President Mike Pence did the same — using his platform at the conference to remind attendees that the United States “doesn’t stand with murderous dictatorships, we stand up to murderous dictatorships.” Pence’s comments come after his trip to the Olympic opening ceremonies earlier this month, where he sat during the playing of the North Korean national anthem.
Despite the tough talk, however, the vice president’s office later confirmed to NBC News that a pre-planned meeting in Pyeongchang between Pence and North Korean delegates (including North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yong Nam) was derailed because North Korea backed out hours before the meeting was set to take place.
Trump’s speech will also likely touch on recent acts of gun violence, as well as ongoing conversations between the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill about how to handle immigration reforms, like deportation protections for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.