At United Nations, Trump says he will sign new executive order to pressure North Korea

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption President Trump just hit North Korea with new sanctions U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States will add more sanctions against North Korea, while U.S. allies have called for enforcing existing international sanctions as the best way to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

NEW YORK — President Trump said Thursday he will ramp up economic pressure on North Korea by signing an executive order that cracks down on anyone who does business with the hermit nation.

Trump and his aides say they hope to resolve the stand-off over nuclear weapons without resorting to military action.

The executive order will give the Treasury Department more authority to sanction individuals, businesses, and institutions that facilitate trade with what Trump called North Korea's "criminal rogue regime" as it pursues nuclear weapons that pose a "grave threat" to the world.

The goal is to "cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind," Trump said before a joint meeting with the presidents of South Korea and Japan.

Trump also praised China's "very bold move" to order its banks to stop doing business with their neighbors in North Korea.

Demanding the "complete de-nuclearization" of North Korea, Trump welcomed support from South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who described North Korea's nuclear threats as intolerable.

Trump also appeared to hold out the possibility of negotiations with Kim Jong Un's government. When a reporter asked if diplomacy was still possible, Trump responded: "Why not?"

The United States and United Nations have previously slapped sanctions on North Korea, but it has continued to upgrade its nuclear weapons program. It has threatened attacks on South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. mainland and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.

During an earlier meeting with Moon, who described North Korea's nuclear provocations as "extremely deplorable," Trump couldn't resist the opportunity to reference his former political rival Hillary Clinton.

"I'm very happy you used the word 'deplorable,'" Trump told Moon, referring to the time Clinton used that term to describe some of his supporters. "That's been a very lucky word for me and many millions of people."

The meetings come two days after Trump told delegates at the United Nations General Assembly that the United States would "totally destroy" North Korea if it was forced to defend itself or its allies. North Korea dismissed Trump's comments as "the sound of a dog barking."

The United States, which does not have a formal relationship with North Korea, has limited ability to impose more economic pain on the country with unilateral sanctions.

That's why Trump and aides are continuing to lobby nations to quit doing business with North Korea, particularly China, its neighbor and largest economic partner.

Under the new executive order, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said any person or company anywhere in the world caught doing business with North Korea would be subject to U.S. sanctions, essentially cut off from the American financial system. He said the rule is not aimed at China or any other nation outside of North Korea, and "we call on all countries around the world to join us" in imposing similar penalties.

The president will also seek tougher sanctions from the United Nations, including a full oil embargo and expelling diplomats.

The U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions on North Korea as recently as a week ago, but they did not go as far as the United States wanted.

In order to win the support of Security Council members Russia and China, the United States dropped its call for a full ban on oil imports and economic sanctions on Kim Jong Un personally.

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told CNN on Thursday that the Trump administration's next steps toward North Korea are meant to dampen the escalating tensions by using tools “short of war.”

"We have tremendous military capability, along with our allies, and we practice that capability and have our forces as a high level of readiness for this problem," McMaster said. "But what the president has done is directed us to integrate what we are doing diplomatically."