President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a free-wheeling speech to CPAC, a campaign-style barnburner that went over well with the raucous crowd. And on his way out, he casually got around to the important stuff: major new sanctions on North Korea.
“North Korea, we imposed today the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country before,” Trump said as he prepared to leave the stage. “And frankly, hopefully something positive can happen. We will see. But that was just announced, and I wanted to let you know.”
The new sanctions, which target an array of shipping companies and vessels believed to be helping the Kim regime dodge an international trade embargo, were supposed to be a major focal point in Trump’s speech. But the president went off-book early, saying the prepared remarks were “wonderful, but a little boring.” Nearly an hour later, Trump remembered to mention the news as he prepared to exit the stage.
Boring or not, the sanctions are a big deal: They involve nearly 60 ships and shipping companies around the world, including in North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, that the administration charges have flaunted sanctions by continuing to trade with the Kim regime. Earlier this week, Japan issued a complaint of alleged cargo transfers at sea between Chinese and North Korean vessels.
White House officials told reporters Friday that the new sanctions were intended to show both North Korea and ambitious merchants that efforts to skirt sanctions would end badly.
“Compliance with U.S. and UN sanctions is a national security imperative. We expect companies and countries to comply with and enforce these sanctions, and we will not hesitate to take action against those who do not,” an official said. “By targeting North Korea’s ability to ship goods through international waters, we are very much closing in on one of the primary means that the regime uses to sustain and finance itself and evade sanctions.”
Besides the North Korea announcement, Trump’s CPAC remarks more closely resembled one of his classic campaign speeches. Speaking to the conservative crowd, which cheered him frequently he particularly seemed to relish pointing out how he had proved wrong Republican naysayers who had warned he would govern like a Democrat.
“I started running, and people’d say, ‘Are you sure he’s a conservative?’” Trump said. “I think now we’ve proved I’m a conservative.”
Trump bragged at length about his administration’s successes, particularly last year’s tax reform bill, economic deregulation, and America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords. And he returned to his signature promise: the construction of a wall on the southern border.
“I had a couple of these characters in the back say, ‘Oh, he really doesn’t want the wall, he just used it for campaigning.’” Trump said. “Every time I hear that, the wall gets 10 feet higher.”
