Trump Orders Cuts to South Korea Drills
President Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially reduce major joint military exercises with South Korea on Monday as annual drills began. Trump cited his friendship with Kim Jong Un and expressed anger over Seoul refusing to join U.S. military action against Iran.
Trump's sudden order to scale back allied drills trades military readiness for nuclear leverage with Pyongyang — signaling that U.S. security guarantees now carry transactional conditions.
Background The U.S. and South Korea have maintained a mutual defense alliance since 1953, grounding 28,500 American troops on the peninsula and holding joint drills to deter North Korean aggression. Pyongyang routinely condemns the annual exercises as invasion rehearsals, using them as a pretext for nuclear testing.
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President Trump instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, calling the drills costly and hostile toward North Korea.
Trump explicitly linked the exercise reduction to South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's decision not to assist U.S. military operations against Iran.
South Korean defense officials confirmed the 11-day exercise proceeded as scheduled on Monday with 18,000 South Korean troops, though with curtailed joint U.S. air maneuvers.
Pyongyang conducted ballistic missile tests earlier this month in protest, warning of unprecedented regional deterrence if allied drills went ahead.
Watch Pyongyang's reaction to the scaled-back drills: if Kim Jong Un rejects diplomatic outreach and resumes missile testing, Washington sacrifices deterrence without gaining peace talks.
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