Trump Orders Pentagon to Scale Back Joint Military Exercises With South Korea

South Korean Navy's destroyer Yulgok Yi I (R), U.S. Navy's USS Benfold (C), and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Atago (L) sail in formation during a joint naval exercise in international waters at an undisclosed location on April 17, 2023. (South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

By Jacki Thrapp

Jacki Thrapp

Jacki Thrapp is an Emmy® Award-winning journalist based in Nashville. She previously worked at The New York Post, Fox News Channel and has written a series of Off-Broadway musicals in NYC. Contact her at jacki.thrapp@epochtimes.us

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August 16, 2026Updated: August 16, 2026

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President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea on Aug. 16.

“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.

Trump highlighted the expense of the exercises and suggested that it sent the wrong signal to North 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,” Trump added.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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