This is not the first time that Donald Trump has sought to end the exercises. During his first term, he also issued a surprise announcement that called the wargames “provocative”.
| Photo Credit: AP
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday (August 16, 2026) to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea after he said South Korea declined to help denuclearise Iran.
Mr. Trump said in a social media post that the exercises slated to begin this week are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” while Mr. Trump has been 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!” Mr. Trump wrote.
The planned 11-day exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.
U.S. and South Korean forces were expected to practise joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and manoeuvre, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the U.S. military.
A day earlier, Mr. Trump posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, writing that the two leaders get along great “despite the unfriendly look in this particular picture”.
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has called the U.S.-South Korean training “a rehearsal for an aggressive war” that is triggering a different level of instability in the region.
Mr. Trump met with the reclusive North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the country’s nuclear programme, most recently in 2019. Since returning to office, Trump has expressed interest in continuing those discussions.
This is not the first time that Mr. Trump has sought to end the exercises. During his first term, he also issued a surprise announcement that called the wargames “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,” Mr. Trump told reporters after his 2018 meeting with Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
Published – August 17, 2026 03:52 am IST
