President Trump announced Sunday that he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The president said it is too late to cancel the exercises, but he told Hegseth to scale them back. Trump also hinted at the U.S.-South Korean relationship as the U.S. continues its war with Iran.
“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump said.
The joint exercises are annual large-scale defensive drills that take place in the spring and summer to strengthen the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea and improve readiness to respond to regional threats, The Hill’s Mallory Wilson notes.
Trump and Kim have had an up-and-down relationship throughout Trump’s first and second terms. Despite ridiculing him frequently, Trump met with Kim on three occasions in 2018 and 2019, marking the first ever meetings between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea.
Trump previously commented at the 2018 summit with Kim in Singapore that he wanted to suspend the military exercises. He posted a photo of himself with Kim on Saturday on Truth Social.
“Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” he said.
