President Donald Trump remained vague Friday when asked about his campaign to choke off Iran’s economy, refusing to say whether he planned to sanction Chinese banks or if he’d discussed the matter with foreign counterparts.
The administration announced earlier this week Operation Economic Outcast, which threatened tough new sanctions on Iran’s trading partners if they didn’t cut off ties to Tehran.
But the administration stopped short of putting in place any new measures, and so far hasn’t listed any major financial institutions from China — Iran’s largest trading partner — as being subject to US sanctions.
Trump bristled when asked why he wasn’t applying new sanctions on Chinese banks doing business with Tehran.
“Who said I’m not? You don’t know if I’m doing it,” he said. “I don’t have to announce everything, do I?”
Later, asked which world leaders he’d discussed the pressure campaign with, Trump suggested it wasn’t on his agenda, even though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Trump was placing calls to foreign counterparts “with specific requests to cease their interactions with the regime.”
“There’s not a lot to speak to. We don’t want to speak to them,” Trump said Thursday. “We’re not looking to meet or anything.”
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