President Donald Trump on Sunday ordered U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth to scale back America’s participation in joint military exercises with South Korea, calling them “totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea.
On Truth Social, Trump indicated: “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.
“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.
“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!
“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!’ Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
On Saturday, Trump posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, saying: “Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!”
The Associated Press reports: “The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
“U.S. and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the U.S. military.”
During his first term in office, Trump sought to end the war games, calling them “provocative.”
“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,” Trump told reporters in 2018.
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