Trump Announces Reduction in U.S.-South Korea Military Exercises and Plans to Meet with Py
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Trump said the U.S. is scaling back the exercises and that he'll meet with Kim. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises are an insult to North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
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VoxNow, Trump appears to be trying to recapture the magic, reportedly urging aides to set up a meeting with Kim as soon as this fall. This news comes soon after Trump’s Truth Social post on Sunday announcing he had ordered the US military to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with ally South Korea in part because it would 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” — North Korea.
Washington TimesSEOUL, South Korea — Days after he ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, President Trump said Wednesday he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this year.
PBS NewsHourNorth Korea shrugs off Trump's scaled-back drills with South Korea, saying it changes nothing The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country's first reaction to Trump's moves to drastically cut back the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills.
Fox NewsPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday he expects to meet with dictator Kim Jong Un "later this year," signaling ongoing direct diplomacy with Pyongyang despite a direct denial by North Korea.
Washington ExaminerSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that a U.S. decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea does not change what it sees as the provocative nature of the drills, dampening hopes for an early resumption of diplomacy between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
NBC NewsPresident Donald Trump confirmed to reporters that he plans to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un this year, a highly unusual move for an American president.
NPR NewsKim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dismissed Trump's overture later Wednesday. She said it was not even worthy of comment because "The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won't change even though their duration and size were reduced."
New York TimesNorth Korean Official Dismisses Reduced Drills Between US and South Korea Kim Yo-jong, a powerful adviser and sister of Kim Jong-un, also said she was “unaware” of any communication with Washington, contradicting President Trump’s claim her brother had responded to his outreach.
Associated PressKim Yo Jong still refrained from the typical North Korean reaction of fiery rhetoric and said personal relations between her brother and Trump are “still excellent.” That signals North Korea would want to wait for Trump to make bigger concessions before returning to talks.
BBC NewsThe drill will now conclude on 21 August, rather than 27 August as planned. It comes after Donald Trump announced plans to curtail exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
The Daily WireTrump said again that he got along well with Kim — and that he knew the North Korean leader “very well.”
The HillTrump claims he will meet with Kim Jong Un, North Korea has 57 nukes Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security   The Big Story  Trump claims he will meet with Kim Jong Un, North Korea has 57 nukes President Trump told reporters that he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year as he warned the isolated…
ReutersNorth Korea fires suspected ballistic missile, Japanese authorities say - Reuters North Korea fires suspected ballistic missile, Japanese authorities say Reuters
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The Japanese prime minister's office said it detected the suspected launch but gave no further details.
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Associated PressThe Japanese prime minister’s office had earlier said that it detected a suspected missile launch.
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“I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he’s going to be fine. As long as we have a smart president, he’s going to be fine,” Trump continued. “If we have a dumb president, then he’s probably not going to be so fine.”
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Fox News"The fact that I get along with him, that’s a good thing," Trump said. "You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he’s going to be fine as long as we have a smart president."
Washington Times“I know Kim Jong-un very well. He’s going to be fine, as long as we have a smart president,” he said. “If we have a dumb president, then he’s probably not going to be so fine.”
VoxIn the midst of an unpopular conflict with Iran that seems unlikely to end in anything resembling a victory, it makes sense that Trump might be reaching back to what he sees as one of the foreign policy high points of his first term. “Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I understand him. He understands me.”
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During the news conference, military leaders also mentioned North Korea's deployment of troops to aid Russia's war against Ukraine.
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VoxNorth Korea has been one of the main beneficiaries of the war in Ukraine, sending thousands of soldiers and munitions to help the Russian war effort. While thousands of those troops have died, the North Korean regime has gained billions of dollars in revenue and military aid from Russia in response, as well as invaluable battlefield experience for its commanders and weapons systems.
ABC NewsNorth Korea is widely believed to be aiding U.S. adversaries, including sending arms to Iran and troops to bolster Russia's war in Ukraine.
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Kim is also less desperate for legitimacy these days. In September 2025, he stood alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at a massive military parade in Beijing, a powerful demonstration of unity among three US adversaries. These days, Kim likely feels he’s the one being wooed. Xi’s high profile trip to Pyongyang in June was interpreted by many as a sign that China, warily eyeing the increasingly close relationship between Russia and North Korea, was looking to shore up its ties with its longtime ally.
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Washington TimesMr. Kim is also being courted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who honored him in Beijing in 2025 and made a state visit to Pyongyang this year.
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South Korea’s presidential national security council held an emergency meeting to discuss the launches. After the meeting, the council issued a statement urging North Korea to halt ballistic missile launches that are banned by U.N. Security Council resolutions.
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Washington ExaminerBallistic missile launches are prohibited under U.N. Security Council resolutions. After South Korea’s JCS confirmed the country’s missile launches, its national security council issued a statement condemning the launches and urging North Korea to stop them.
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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung hailed Trump’s decision, saying in his X message Wednesday that he hopes it would lead to reopening dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang and promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee is a liberal who wants better ties with North Korea.
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Washington TimesSouth Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s immediate reaction to Mr. Trump’s late Sunday night missive was to confirm progress on one of his own administration’s priorities: the already underway shift of South Korean forces from Washington’s to Seoul’s command.
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South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told a parliamentary hearing that neither South Korean nor US officials had been aware in advance about Trump's plans.
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Washington ExaminerAt separate parliamentary hearings Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said neither South Korean nor U.S. officials were informed of Trump’s move before his social media post. Cho said the alliance remains strong, while Ahn said South Korean and U.S. defense officials were maintaining close consultations.
Washington TimesForeign Minister Cho Hyun contradicted the “coordination” claim a day later. “Neither our government nor U.S. officials knew what President Trump wrote on his Truth Social,” he told the National Assembly’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification. “We were not notified in advance.”
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“When I called recently, the president of South Korea [Lee Jae Myung] — who I like, I think he’s very nice actually — but I called him and said, ‘Would you like to give us a little hand?’ He said, ‘No, thanks,'” Trump told reporters on Monday. “And I said, wait, we have 39,000 soldiers over there — guarding you from [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un, your next-door neighbor — and you’re not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran? That’s strange.”
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BBC News"We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong Un, your next door neighbour, and you're not going to help us on a very easy military operation in Iran," he said. "That's strange".
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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02 Vox Like it or not, North Korea is a nuclear power now Analysts believe North Korea possesses around 50 nuclear weapons with enough fissile material to build 40 more. It has missiles that are theoretically capable of reaching the US mainland. There was a time when the North Koreans were willing to at least discuss giving up their program in exchange for sanctions relief and major concessions on US military support to South Korea, but that time is probably over, partly thanks to Trump’s own actions.
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03 Washington Examiner This month’s drills were initially supposed to be held in two phases in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until this Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to counteroffensive drills, according to South Korean media.
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04 New York Times Jimmy Fallon Teases Trump’s Efforts to Rekindle North Korea Bromance “Man, you know you’re depressed when you’re texting an old hookup from seven years ago,” Fallon said of the president and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
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05 Associated Press The military said South Korea has bolstered its surveillance posture and was closely coordinating information on the launches with the U.S. and Japan.
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06 National Review Trump Is Choosing the Wrong Korea There’s no reason to trust Kim Jong-un over our longtime ally.
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07 Fox News North Korea’s nuclear stockpile is closely guarded, and public estimates vary. The Federation of American Scientists estimated in 2024 that Pyongyang may have assembled roughly 50 nuclear warheads, while possessing enough fissile material for up to 90.
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08 BBC News The combined field training exercise component of the drills will also be "partially reduced in scale", Seoul said, noting that the "specific details" of that reduction are still under discussion.
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09 ABC News Trump's comments came after the Department of Defense confirmed that the ongoing exercises -- initially scheduled to last through Aug. 27 -- will be shortened by a week and conclude on Friday instead.
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10 The Daily Wire Trump made the comments during an impromptu meeting with reporters while touring a new White House helipad, where he was asked whether the two leaders would meet again.
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11 Washington Times “The United States and its followers are vigorously carrying out hostile military activities against [North Korea] even at this very moment,” Ms. Kim said.
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