Trump orders reduced joint US military exercises with South Korea

United States President, Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to substantially reduce joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, citing their cost, what he described as an ‘inappropriate and hostile’ signal to North Korea, and his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said he was “not happy” that the United States had long ago agreed to participate in the drills.

The American president noted it was “too late to cancel” the exercises and directed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce them.

“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,” he said.

He also said, “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!’”

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises were scheduled to begin Monday, Aug. 17, and run through Aug. 27.

About 18,000 South Korean troops are participating alongside U.S. forces in training that includes field maneuvers, command-post simulations, and scenarios addressing threats such as drones and cyberattacks.

South Korean authorities said the drills would proceed as scheduled, and as of Monday no formal U.S. request to alter their scale had been reported.

A Pentagon spokesperson referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately provide further details on the scope of any reduction.

The announcement comes after North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests this month in violation of U.N. resolutions and after Pyongyang denounced the upcoming drills as a “rehearsal for an aggressive war.”

Trump had posted a day earlier an old photo of himself with Kim, describing their friendship.

During his first term, Trump suspended or scaled back similar large-scale exercises with South Korea, calling them provocative and expensive amid outreach to Kim.

This is the first such order in his second term.