President Donald Trump announced Friday he would go against the order of his own Treasury Department and remove additional sanctions imposed on North Korea. 

Trump, via Twitter, said he would not add to existing sanctions on the country, aimed at slowing its nuclear ambitions. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Thursday it would impose sanctions on two Chinese-based shipping companies that helped North Korea evade sanctions.

It was announced today by the U.S. Treasury that additional large scale Sanctions would be added to those already existing Sanctions on North Korea. I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2019

When asked about the sanctions, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.” 

Much of Trump’s diplomatic outreach with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been based on his contention they have a personal relationship and a bond.

Trump met with Kim last month in Vietnam to work on a nuclear disarmament deal, but the Hanoi summit was cut short after they reached an impasse over sanctions. 

White House aides, at that time, signaled the two sides will continue negotiations.