US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley got ahead of herself in announcing new sanctions on Russia, a top aide to President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
Still, National Economic Council chairman Larry Kudlow insisted there was no confusion within the administration about the sanctions issue.
“No,” Kudlow said when pressed by CNN’s Jeff Zeleny about Haley’s comments. “I think the issue here is we have a set of sanctions, and additional sanctions are under discussion but haven’t been determined.”
Asked about Haley’s statement, Kudlow said she may have been confused.
“She got ahead of the curve. She’s done a great job, she’s a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that,” he said. “But if you talk with Steve Mnuchin at Treasury and so forth, he will tell you the same thing – they’re in charge of this – we have had sanctions. Additional sanctions are under consideration but not implemented.”
Haley announced on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the US Treasury Department would formalize additional sanctions on Russia the following day, but The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump had yet to sign off on the move.
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley reiterated the administration was still reviewing potentially new sanctions on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” later Monday.