U.S.-South Korea Drills Intensify Amid North Korean Threats and Diplomatic Efforts
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Why this matters: The exercises, which began Monday, were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats. Trump said in a social media post that the exercises are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House.The move is the latest example of the president appearing to turn against an ally in favor of a leader that previous administrations have cast as an adversary. South Korea on Monday expressed hopes for resumption of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea to ease animosities on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea did not immediately respond to the announcement.
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The AtlanticEarly Sunday evening, Trump instructed the Defense Department to “substantially reduce” its participation in an annual joint military exercise with the South Koreans. He did this, he said in a post on Truth Social, in part because such activities are expensive, but worse, they are insulting to his friends in North Korea, a country that has been “unthreatening and respectful” while he’s been in office. (Trump seems unconcerned about the dozens of nuclear weapons Pyongyang is pointing at U.S. and South Korean forces—many of them developed on his watch. Just a reminder: There are roughly 28,500 American troops currently stationed in South Korea, some just a few miles from the DMZ.)
Washington Examiner“Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea,” Trump said. “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.”
PBS NewsHourTrump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea Trump said in a social media post that the exercises slated to begin this week are costly and "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea, which he said "has been unthreatening and respectful" while Trump has been in the White House.
Fox NewsThis is also not the first time Trump has scaled back joint exercises with South Korea. During his first term as well, following his initial Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un, he called the "war games" "provocative" and expensive.
The Guardian USGood morning. Donald Trump has said he is scaling back joint US military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea, despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime is learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.
NBC NewsPresident Donald Trump said Sunday that he has directed the Pentagon to scale down joint military exercises with South Korea, citing the country’s refusal to join the war in Iran and his “very good” relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
The Daily WirePresident Donald Trump said Sunday he has directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and what he said was Seoul’s refusal to help the United States denuclearize Iran.
New York TimesTrump Orders Pentagon to Curtail Military Exercises With Ally South Korea In a social media post, the president scolded South Korea for not helping denuclearize Iran, and also praised North Korea and its leader.
Washington TimesPresident Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea, saying it declined to help denuclearize Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
ABC NewsPresident Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea after the Republican president said South Korea declined to help denuclearize Iran
NPR NewsWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back annual joint military exercises with South Korea, saying the ally declined to help with the war against Iran and citing his good relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
BBC NewsPublished Donald Trump has said the US will "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good relationship" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un.
The HillTrump directs Hegseth to reduce U.S. joint exercises in South Korea President Trump said Sunday he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the joint military exercises with South Korea. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he’s “not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate” in these joint military exercises. He also noted that South Korea…
HuffPostIt’s also not the first time that Trump has sought to curtail the exercises. He suspended the exercises in 2018 as part of denuclearization talks with North Korea, BBC News reported.
USA TodaySouth Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters that military drills started on Monday as scheduled.
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Democrats on Sunday intensified their demands for answers from the Trump administration over conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln as the aircraft carrier’s nearly nine-month deployment continued fueling concern over crew morale, mental health and living conditions.
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Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, held a rare meeting with Hamas’s political chief on Sunday in Egypt, in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet on Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed road map.
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Downsizing the U.S. and South Korean drills “can damage alliance coordination, slow the process of South Korea taking on greater responsibility for its own defense, and weaken deterrence against possible conflicts in Asia,” Easley said.
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The Guardian USHowever, Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, cautioned that downsizing the exercise would “slow the process of South Korea taking on greater responsibility for its own defence, and weaken deterrence against possible conflicts in Asia”.
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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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01 Washington Examiner Trump’s directive follows a turbulent week for Hegseth after the war secretary pushed back on reports of “dire conditions” aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln deployed in the Middle East.
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02 The Guardian US Asked about Trump’s comment that “nothing bad can happen” from advising parents to get six separate shots for their children instead of two, Cassidy told CNN on Sunday: “If it wasn’t so potentially tragic, you would break out laughing at a comment like that.”
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03 Fox News In the same post, Trump linked his frustration over the military exercises to a separate diplomatic exchange regarding Iran.
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04 Washington Times The 11-day, summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began Monday morning as scheduled, and it wasn’t known which parts of the training were being downsized.
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05 Associated Press Welcome back. We hope you had a lovely weekend. In the news today: Trump orders the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea; the president blames vandals for damaged grass in the same spot on the National Mall where he held his July 4 celebration; and the water level at Lake Powell hits a record low. Also, the fastest, loudest and best-dressed corgis compete at an international race.
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06 The Atlantic Last winter, Donald Trump plunged recklessly into war with Iran. The United States is now losing that conflict. Iran remains defiant, much of the world economy is more threatened now than it was six months ago, U.S. military resources are overextended, and munition stores are dangerously depleted. Trump and the United States have suffered one embarrassment after another; last week, he had to sneak away from the region on a backup plane because of a possible assassination threat from Tehran.
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07 HuffPost WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and return to using older steam catapults that he has long said he prefers, according to a directive issued Thursday.
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08 NPR News It is also a sharp turnaround from how his administration has viewed South Korea in recent months.
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09 The Daily Wire The administration should concentrate on executing its broad trade and investment agreement with South Korea, including Seoul’s pledged $150 billion investment in shipbuilding and $200 billion in other sectors. That is real money directed toward concrete American and South Korean interests.
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