Sen. Marco Rubio said new sanctions go through “a long interagency process” and must be OK'd by the president before they are announced. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images Congress Rubio on Trump’s North Korea tweet: ‘It shouldn’t have happened that way’

Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday said President Donald Trump’s tweet that he would reverse sanctions on North Korea that had just been imposed by the Treasury Department could cause people to second-guess future announcements of sanctions.

Rubio (R-Fla.) said sanctions go through “a long interagency process” and must be OK'd by the president before they are announced.


“Frankly, look, I think people around the world would look at it and say from now on, when they hear about sanctions, they're going to ask for a double confirmation from the White House,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So, look, I wish it hadn't happened that way, and it shouldn't have happened that way.”

Trump‘s Friday tweet set off widespread confusion when he appeared to announce that he would undo recently imposed sanctions on North Korea.

“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,” Trump wrote. “I have today ordered the withdrawal of those additional Sanctions!”

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After hours of uncertainty, administration officials insisted Trump had not been referring to the new sanctions on North Korea that his administration rolled out a day before. Instead, the officials claimed, the president was saying he was opposing not-yet-announced sanctions on Pyongyang.

“I've never seen that before from this or any administration, so something happened here,” Rubio said.

The senator also said he’s skeptical that ongoing negotiations between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un would lead the Asian country to give up its nuclear weapons.

“I would love for Kim Jong Un to give up his weapons and everything else,” Rubio said. “And I don't criticize the president for trying. I just never believed he would. I don't believe he ever will.

“I'm not skeptical because I want it to fail; I'm skeptical because I believe it will fail,” he said.