Donald Trump - page 5

On Monday, the White House spent a lot of time convincing the world that America had not declared war on North Korea, as claimed by the reclusive nation. The White House, however, rejected the notion it had declared war, and ripped North Korea’s talk of shooting down American planes as “absurd”. At a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “We have not declared war on North Korea and, frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd. On Tuesday, Trump declared that the U.S. is “totally prepared” for “devastating” military action against North Korea should that be necessary, further ratcheting up tensions between the two nations. Trump said the time had come for the world “to isolate the North Korean menace” and its dictator Kim Jong Un for “behaving very badly” and “saying things that should never ever be said”. The U.S. president meanwhile also praised China for placing new restrictions on banking relationships with Pyongyang and enforcing new United Nations sanctions on Kim Jong Un’s regime. The U.S. President said, “I applaud China’s recent action to restrict its trade with North Korea. In particular, I applaud China for breaking all banking relationships with North Korea. I want to thank President Xi”. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department stepped up measures in the effort to choke off North Korea from the international financial system. The Treasury imposed new penalties on banks and individuals linked to the country’s financial networks. The U.S. designated eight North Korean banks and 26 North Korean nationals who act as representatives for the country’s banks, operating in China, Russia, Libya and the United Arab Emirates.