President Trump encouraged Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to uphold United Nations Security Council resolutions against North Korea and to stop welcoming North Korean guest workers in Egypt, the White House said on Wednesday.
Trump called el-Sissi from Air Force One, where he and the first lady were en route to Poland ahead of the G20 summit in Germany.
“The two presidents also discussed the threat from North Korea,” the White House said in a statement about the phone call. “President Trump stressed the need for all countries to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea, stop hosting North Korean guest workers, and stop providing economic or military benefits to North Korea.”
Trump administration officials have expressed concerns in the past that some countries have failed to observe sanctions against the North Korean regime.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to express frustration that trade between China and North Korea expanded in the last quarter, during which time Trump had encouraged Chinese President Xi Jinping to pressure North Korea into abandoning its nuclear activity. Trump has signaled recently that he does not believe China has been successful in its efforts to pressure Pyongyang.
The threat posed by a nuclear North Korea is expected to be a top subject of discussion at the G20 summit this week. North Korea announced on Tuesday that it had successfully completed an intercontinental ballistic missile test for the first time, raising the stakes in an already tense situation.
When the newly elected South Korean president visited the White House last week, Trump called on South Korea and Japan to join the U.S. in countering an aggressive North Korea.
American and South Korean forces conducted a joint military exercise near the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday in response to Pyongyang’s ICBM test.
