Trump faces backlash over South Korea drill cuts

President Donald Trump’s order to sharply scale back joint military exercises with South Korea drew criticism from Democrats and a rare Republican rebuke, as lawmakers warned the move could weaken a decades-old alliance and benefit North Korea and Russia.

Trump announced Sunday that he had directed the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” drills with South Korean forces. The Guardian reported that the order applies to Ulchi Freedom Shield, an 11-day exercise scheduled for Aug. 17-27 involving about 18,000 South Korean troops and scenarios such as missile strikes, drone incursions and cyberattacks.

Trump linked the decision to his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and to Seoul’s refusal to join the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. “I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the denuclearisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He often describes the war with Iran as a denuclearisation effort, while Tehran says it does not possess a nuclear weapon.

In another social media post cited by The Guardian, Trump said the drills “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to a country he described as “unthreatening and respectful.” North Korea has continued missile testing, including a launch earlier this month.

Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the decision “inane” and said it suggested U.S. security commitments could be bargained away. “China and Russia are watching how easily this president abandons America’s allies and they will remember it the next time they test us,” Reed said in a statement. He also said that when Trump cuts exercises “to flatter a dictator” or punishes South Korea for declining to join a war, “all of our allies – and adversaries – think that America’s commitments are negotiable.”

Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat on the same committee, said the exercises are central to military readiness. “North and South Korea are still technically at war,” Kelly said. “Our ability to help defend our ally against the North Koreans is because our forces are well trained and able to coordinate with the South Koreans. Hollowing out these joint exercises is shortsighted and a mistake.”

Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said decisions on joint exercises should not be announced unilaterally online. “Our alliance with the Republic of Korea is critical for US security and prosperity – and I am concerned that President Trump’s post today suggests a disregard for this relationship,” Kim said.

Representative Pramila Jayapal called the decision “dangerous” for regional stability, writing on social media: “So – our US wannabe authoritarian ruler has decided to ditch democracy in South Korea for the authoritarian rules in North Korea that he so admires?”

The U.S.-South Korea military partnership dates to the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty after the Korean War armistice. The Guardian reported that about 28,500 U.S. troops remain stationed in South Korea, supported by a combined command structure and Washington’s nuclear umbrella. The U.S. State Department describes the partnership as a “linchpin for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said reducing the exercises could allow North Korea to send more support to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. “South Korea has been a solid military ally for over 70 years that possesses exquisite military capabilities,” Tillis wrote on X. “Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing more than free up thousands of North Korea’s troops to support Putin’s systematic kidnapping, torture, rape and murder of innocent Ukrainian citizens.”

Trump previously suspended major exercises with South Korea after his 2018 summit with Kim in Singapore, calling them costly and provocative, before they were later restored after nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang broke down.