Trump directs Pentagon to reduce joint exercises with South Korea, cites ‘very good relationship’ with Kim Jong Un – One America News Network

August 17, 2026 Lillian Mann US 0

PANMUNJOM, SOUTH KOREA - JUNE 30 (SOUTH KOREA OUT): A handout photo provided by Dong-A Ilbo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a meeting on the south side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on June 30, 2019 in Panmunjom, South Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un briefly met at the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) on Sunday, with an intention to revitalize stalled nuclear talks and demonstrate the friendship between both countries. The encounter was the third time Trump and Kim have gotten together in person as both leaders have said they are committed to the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula. (Handout photo by Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images/Getty Images) — A handout photo provided by Dong-A Ilbo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a meeting on the south side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the South and North Korea on June 30, 2019 in Panmunjom, South Korea. (Handout photo by Dong-A Ilbo via Getty Images/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Lillian Mann and Sophia Flores
12:23 PM – Monday, August 17, 2026

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he has instructed the Pentagon to scale back planned military exercises with South Korea.

Celebrating his “very good relationship” with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, the president stated that the U.S. will be reducing the scope of drills rather than canceling them as the scheduled start date was too close. He expressed frustration that the U.S. had originally agreed to participate, calling the joint exercises costly and “totally inappropriate and hostile.”

The affected drills—the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises scheduled for August 17^th–27^th—involve roughly 18,000 South Korean troops. Officials confirmed last week that this year’s drills were designed to focus on countering North Korea’s growing capabilities through anti-drone, anti-GPS-jamming and cybersecurity operations.

“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. “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. 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! While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’ Thank you for your attention to this matter.”