FOREIGN POLICY/STEVEN MNUCHIN/TREASURY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration on Wednesday [10-25-17] imposed sanctions on eight individuals and a business affiliated with the Islamic State in Yemen and with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the first coordinated action taken with a newly formed center to combat terrorist financing led by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The fresh round of sanctions was unveiled by Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, as he embarks on a four-country trip to the Middle East intended to strengthen America’s capacity to crack down on terrorist financing networks. President Trump has made attacking terrorist financing a priority in his first year in office, and the Treasury has been increasingly working with Persian Gulf countries to freeze the assets of people who are plotting attacks.
The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center was established in May during Mr. Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also members of the group, and have agreed to share information about the financing of terrorism…
The United States has in recent months imposed sanctions to stem North Korea’s financing and development of weapons of mass destruction and earlier this month targeted Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Mr. Mnuchin said he is also focused on targeting fund-raising efforts that prop up the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
-Alan Rappeport, “U.S. Targets Terrorist Financing With New Round of Sanctions,” The New York Times online, Oct. 25, 2017