President Trump revealed Sunday he has ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with longtime close ally South Korea, surprisingly mentioning his "very good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a motivating factor in the decision.
Trump said in a Truth Social posts that exercises, due to start on Monday, are costly and "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said "has been unthreatening and respectful" during his time in office.
"Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea," Trump stated.
Via CNN, from historic Trump-Kim meeting during the US President's first term.Not only did Trump have somewhat glowing things to say about Pyongyang - perhaps in an effort to again jump start the kind of direct diplomacy and meetings with Kim that marked his first term - but he at the same time denigrated some recent stances of South Korea on the global stage.
He invoked Seoul's stance on the US-Israel war on Iran, which marked a huge disappointment for the White House.
"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!'" he said.
Still, Trump lamented that it is actually too late to cancel the drills, and so ordered War Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" them.
The 10-day Ulchi Freedom Shield
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