President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back upcoming U.S.-South Korea military exercises on Sunday, arguing that the operations cost too much and send a hostile message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.At the same time, the president went on to criticize Seoul for declining to join U.S.war efforts to denuclearize Iran.Writing on Truth Social, Trump noted that while it was too late to cancel the drills entirely, he was dissatisfied with the longstanding military arrangement between Washington and Seoul."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.NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES ANOTHER BALLISTIC MISSILE AS US, SOUTH KOREA PREPARE FOR MILITARY DRILLSSoldiers of South Korean 1st Army Military Support Brigade and U.S.
Army’s 2nd Infantry Division participate in a CDEx (Combined Distribution Exercise) in Pohang, South Korea on June 13, 2023.(Woohae Cho/Getty Images)"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."In the same post, Trump linked his frustration over the military exercises to a separate diplomatic exchange regarding Iran."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!’" Trump wrote, referring to Lee Jae Myung.NORTH KOREA EXPERT WARNS US CAN 'NEVER TAKE THEIR EYE OFF' KIM JONG UN FOLLOWING MISSILE TEST DURING IRAN WARNorth Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting on the south side of the Military Demarcation Line that divides North and South Korea, in the Joint Sec...