Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea
[August 17, 2026]
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
Trump said in a social media post that the exercises, which began
Monday, 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.
“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!” Trump wrote. The president added that he
recently asked South Korea’s president if they would join the U.S. in
the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
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. Trump and others in his administration have also
railed against NATO allies over perceived lack of support for his war
against Iran, even as they seek to confront an increasingly aggressive
Russia in the Baltic region.
It is also a sharp turnaround from how his administration has viewed
South Korea in recent months.
In May, Hegseth praised the longtime ally for its “commitment to
increase defense spending" and its "leadership in assuming primary
responsibility for the security of the Korean Peninsula" during a
meeting at the Pentagon.
“It demonstrates alliance burden-sharing that all of America’s partners
would do well to follow," the defense secretary added.
What the US military says about the joint exercises
The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were
designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
The U.S. military has said the summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises
reinforce “the role of the alliance as the linchpin for regional peace
and security” and reaffirm “the ironclad commitment between the United
States and the Republic of Korea to defend their homelands.” The
exercises are one of the two main combined drills conducted by the South
Korean and U.S. militaries annually, along with their springtime
training.
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.
South Korea's Defense Ministry confirmed that the exercises began on
Monday as planned.
The joint training started days after North Korea resumed ballistic
missile testing activities in defiance of U.N. bans.
Trump's decision was sharply criticized by Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a
former Navy pilot, who said that “hollowing out these joint exercises is
shortsighted and a mistake” in a social media post made just hours after
the president's own post. Earlier this month, South Korea, the U.S. and
Japan detected the launches of two ballistic missiles from North Korea
in what were the North’s first ballistic weapons testing activities
since late June. The missiles landed in the waters off North Korea’s
east coast.
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President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at
Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP
Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
North Korea threatens strong response
North Korea has been pushing hard to enlarge its nuclear and missile
arsenals since Kim’s high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019.
Experts say Kim likely believes a bigger weapons arsenal would increase
his chances for wresting more concessions from the U.S. in future
negotiations.
North Korea on Friday threatened unspecified stern steps against the
U.S. and South Korea, describing their military drills as a “a rehearsal
for an aggressive war” that are triggering greater instability in the
region.
The warning was typical of the harsh rhetoric that North Korea often
deploys ahead of major U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Experts say
North Korea has often used its rivals’ drills as a pretext to ramp up
testing activities to modernize weapons and promote public support for
the reclusive North Korean leader.
Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term
to discuss the country’s nuclear program, most recently in 2019. Since
returning to office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those
discussions. In September 2025, Kim said he held “good personal
memories” of Trump and suggested he could return to talks if the U.S.
drops “its delusional obsession with denuclearization” of North Korea.
Trump's announcement came a day after he posted a photo of himself
standing next to North Korea's Kim, writing that the two leaders get
along great “despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture.”
This is not the first time that Trump has sought to end the exercises.
During his first term he also issued a surprise announcement that called
the war games “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 after his 2018 meeting
with Kim in Singapore.
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Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed
to this report.
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