The American government claims the situation with North Korea was moving in the right direction after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
In a pair of tweets early on Wednesday, US President Trump said President Xi Jinping told him a meeting Xi had with Kim this week "went very well."
And later on Wednesday White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters: "We're going to be cautiously optimistic but we feel like things are moving in the right direction and the meeting yesterday was a good indication that the maximum pressure campaign has been working."
Trump said that according to Xi, the North Korean leader "looks forward" to meeting the American president.
But he added: "In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!"
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The White House has said Trump plans to meet Kim by May amid nuclear tensions between the two nations.
"For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility," Trump tweeted.
"Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!"
