Trump says he was "a little surprised" that U.S. caught ship suspected to have come from China

The president told CNBC that the U.S. boarded and seized a cargo ship that had material that he believed came from China, though he wasn't sure if that was accurate.

"We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn't very nice, a gift from China, perhaps, I don't know," he said. "But I was a little surprised because I have a very good relationship and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi, but that's all right. That's the way war goes, right?"

The president announced Sunday that U.S. forces fired on and seized the Iranian-flagged cargo vessel Touska because it tried to bypass the U.S. blockade and ignored multiple warnings. It's unclear whether Mr. Trump was referring to Touska in his call with CNBC.

The U.S. military said Tuesday that another Iran-linked vessel, which the Pentagon described as a "stateless sanctioned" ship, the oil tanker M/T Tifani, was interdicted in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.