US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" planned joint military exercises with South Korea, citing their cost and his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"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," he said on his Truth Social account.
Trump argued that the drills sent what he described as an inappropriate and hostile signal to Pyongyang.
"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," he said.
He added that it was too late to cancel the exercises altogether and had therefore directed Hegseth to "substantially reduce" them.
Trump also linked his decision to a separate exchange with South Korea, saying he had recently asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung whether Seoul would join Washington in efforts to "denuclearize Iran" and received the response: "No, thanks."
