Except, according to a new report, that’s not really what happened. As Bloomberg News reports, Trump was indeed announcing the cancellation of Treasury’s newly announced sanctions. Administration officials moved quickly to persuade Trump to back off the move, and they succeeded. And then they came up with the false cover story.

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Per Bloomberg:

The president in fact intended to remove penalties Treasury had announced the day before against two Chinese shipping companies that had helped Pyongyang evade U.S. sanctions, according to five people familiar with the matter. Trump hadn’t signed off on the specific measures before they were announced but had given Treasury discretion to decide some sanctions as it saw fit, according to one person familiar with the matter.

What’s more, there were no future sanctions in the offing. So the idea that Trump just got confused and was referring to sanctions that hadn’t yet been announced makes no sense.

The episode is a nearly perfect encapsulation of how Trump can set off chaos within the defense and foreign policy establishments with just a few taps of his thumbs and a disregard for due diligence. The officials around him are often put in the unenviable position of trying to square his announcements with actual policies. Sometimes it requires some real rhetorical and logical gymnastics; many times, it results in Trump’s announcement never coming to fruition.

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Trump has now twice announced intended withdrawals from Syria. In March 2018, he announced at a rally that “we’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon.” The White House soon clarified that the troops would be there until the Islamic State, or ISIS, was defeated. Then in December, Trump surprised almost the entire military establishment by saying all troops were coming home from Syria immediately. Allies balked and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned, and now the administration is still leaving hundreds of troops there.

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Referring to the same region, Trump said last month that he would keep U.S. troops in Iraq to “watch Iran,” only to have that idea immediately condemned by a unified Iraqi government. Diplomats had to ensure that the United States wasn’t, in fact, doing what Trump had suggested.

In April 2018, Trump got cold feet on a new set of sanctions against Russia after they were announced by then-United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Administration officials contended Haley had either misstated the sanctions or gotten ahead of herself. Chief White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow suggested that Haley had gotten “confused.” But the ambassador shot back, “With all due respect, I don’t get confused” — clearly implying this was indeed the plan and that Trump had simply backed off it.

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In July 2018, Trump said he “didn’t see any reason why it would be” Russia who interfered in the 2016 U.S. election — echoing his previous doubts about Russia’s culpability. He soon implausibly clarified that he meant to say “wouldn’t,” not would."

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At that same time, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to exchange U.S. and Russian officials for questioning — thereby allowing Russia to interrogate Americans it has accused of crimes — an “incredible offer.” The White House soon, in the face of a rebuke by the GOP-controlled Senate, clarified that Trump opposed the idea.

In June 2018, Trump announced on Twitter that Saudi Arabian King Salman “has agreed” to “increase oil production, maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels” to reduce gas prices. The White House soon issued a statement clarifying that Salman had such a capability and that he agreed to use it “prudently.”

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In February 2017, mere days after Trump took office, he questioned an Obama administration deal to accept 1,250 refugees from Australia. This came less than an hour after White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the United States would abide by the agreement. Congressional Republicans and administration officials had to tamp down tension with a key U.S. ally.

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There are many other examples when it comes to domestic politics, including when Trump signaled he wouldn’t sign a compromise immigration bill spearheaded by House GOP leaders and when he appeared to blame the FBI’s preoccupation with Russia for the massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.