Trump told Russia sanctions were off but US Ambassador to UN Nikki Haley did not know

President Donald Trump informed Russian officials he had reversed a decision to impose new sanctions of Russia in the wake of US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announcing the exact opposite - but Ms Haley had only announced the sanctions based on information she received from the White House.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that a Trump administration official called the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC, about the change in policy on Sunday after Ms Haley had made the announcement about new sanctions earlier that day. Two administration officials familiar with the matter told CNN, Mr Trump changed his mind but that when Ms Haley made her television appearance it was based on accurate information that she had been briefed on by the White House.

However, it is unclear exactly when he changed his mind – before or after she said on television the sanctions would send a “strong message” to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ms Haley has been vocal in the Security Council about her opposition to Moscow in the past, but particularly since Russia blocked a vote to investigate the latest suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria. She has been one of the few high profile administration officials that has not drawn the president’s ire publicly. He has even praised her work in pushing his “America First” foreign policy, which makes the president’s latest row all the more telling.

Sources told CNN that Mr Trump was not happy Ms Haley had taken to the popular Sunday morning news talk show circuit to discuss the additional sanctions. The outlet reported that the president “was also annoyed that, to his mind, Europeans weren’t taking as much punitive action against Russia”. Ms Haley, who is Indian-American, has long been seen as a ‘token’ appointment, one of the few women and minorities with a voice in the administration. Experts have said she proved herself professionally at the UN by delivering a strong stance against Russia and repeating the ‘company line’ on other issues without wavering.

The latest sanctions were brought on by a combination of issues. Primarily, they were meant to be an add-on response with the latest US missile strike on Syria, done in response to what the US believes is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. Russia has consistently countered the assertion that the weapons came from the regime and said it is in the country “at the invitation” of “the legal government” of Syria, according to Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.

US to impose new sanctions on Russia in wake of Syria chemical attack, says UN ambassador Nikki Haley

Mr Nebenzya and Ms Haley, partnering with the UK and France, have routinely exchanged diplomatic barbs at the UN. Russia turned the tables to claim the US and allies have been supporting terrorists in Syria themselves in the form of aiding rebel groups fighting against the government of Mr Assad while just using UN resolutions as “justification” for further military strikes instead of defeating Isis.

The other matter is the 4 March poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK using the nerve agent novichok. UK Prime Minister Theresa May had been quick and unwavering in her assessment of Russia’s role in the incident which had left the town of Salisbury a “ghost town” as The Independent previously reported.

She called it a “brazen” act, expelled 23 Russian diplomats, and cut high-level contact with Moscow. The US expelled 60 diplomats and closed the consulate in Seattle, Washington. France and Germany joined as well. The US had already placed sanctions on 19 Russian nationals, including Mr Putin’s personal chef, and continue to weigh the options for more, according to State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation

17 show all The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation

1/17 Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty

2/17 Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP

3/17 George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter

4/17 Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images

5/17 Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images

6/17 Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images

7/17 Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images

8/17 Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images

9/17 Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images

10/17 Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters

11/17 Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images

12/17 Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images

13/17 Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters

14/17 Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons

15/17 James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images

16/17 Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images

17/17 Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

“That is something that the administration at the interagency level has under consideration. And that is still under consideration at this time, but we have nothing that we are ready -- nothing that we are set to announce at this time,” she said. Mr Trump has expressed interest in meeting with Mr Putin in person again as well, which may have been the reason for holding back on sanctions. The Congressional and FBI investigations into alleged collusion between Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign team and Russian officials are also ongoing.

To compound matters, Ms Haley’s administration colleague National Economic Council chairman Larry Kudlow decided to get involved in the miscommunication to the public as well. Mr Kudlow, the president’s latest hire after enjoying his commentary as a political analyst on Fox News, said Ms Haley “got ahead of the curve” regarding announcing sanctions and that “there might have been some momentary confusion about that”.

That does not quite explain why the White House took nearly 24 hours to reverse the new sanctions Ms Haley had announced, however.

Ms Haley’s response has garnered praise the right as well as left, particularly on social media: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused”.