explained his decision<\/a> by citing South Korea\u2019s refusal to join his war against Iran and pointing to what he said was his good relationship with North Korea\u2019s reclusive dictator, a transactional and personal approach to foreign policy that has defined the Republican\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is no American interest that I can see in this,\u201d said Dan Fried, an assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the George W. Bush administration. \u201cOn all levels it makes no sense. It undermines the South Koreans, undermines the Japanese, frightens the Taiwanese, unnerves NATO and emboldens the Chinese, not to mention the North Koreans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danny Russel, former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific in the Obama administration, said Trump’s decision to side with North Korea, which strongly objects to the annual joint military exercises, is “firmly in the \u2018hard-to see-how-it-could-be-worse\u2019 category.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is tragically upside-down. Trump is punishing an ally while encouraging an adversary,\u201d said Russel, now a scholar at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. \u201cHe is protecting Kim Jong Un\u2019s sensitive feelings from an unfriendly signal at the expense of U.S.-South Korean security.” <\/p>\n
Trump on Sunday ordered the U.S. military to downsize the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, which began Monday as scheduled. It wasn\u2019t known which parts of the training were being scaled back. <\/p>\n
His announcement baffled many in South Korea, which has been closely allied with the U.S. for decades and where national security is a top priority due to threats from nuclear-armed North Korea. <\/p>\n
It also drew instant criticism from many Democrats in Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cTreating one of America\u2019s closest allies like an adversary weakens our alliances and benefits China and North Korea,” said Rep. Greg Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement. <\/p>\n
Trump on Monday doubled down, posting a photo of North Korea\u2019s leader speaking on a phone. The caption read: \u201cHEY DONALD … WE COOL, RIGHT?\u201d <\/p>\n
Retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, who served under Republican and Democratic presidents, said the joint military exercises are critical to deterring North Korea, which has shunned any talks with the U.S. over its nuclear program and has accelerated weapons testing. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe also don\u2019t want South Korea to draw the conclusion that a nuclear weapons capability is the only guarantee it has to ensure its security,\u201d Wood said. <\/p>\n
Matthew Kroenig, who previously served in defense and intelligence positions in Republican and Democratic administrations, said polls show that South Koreans have increasingly supported the idea of pursuing their own nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States has been working really hard to try to persuade South Korea that they are protected,\u201d said Kroenig, who is now with the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank. Scaling back the exercises \u201cpotentially undermines that message,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump’s turnabout came even after the South Koreans worked to flatter the American president, eager to gain favor on critical issues such as trade and defense.<\/p>\n
As soon as he sat down in the gilded Oval Office for his meeting with Trump last year, new President Lee Jae Myung praised the room\u2019s elaborate decor. Laying it on thick, Lee affirmed Trump\u2019s assertion that Kim would not have pursued his nuclear ambitions had Trump won a second consecutive term in 2020, while dangling the prospect of an eventual Trump Tower in North Korea.<\/p>\n
Trump just hours earlier had appeared to show sympathy for Lee\u2019s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, who had been ousted from office after imposing martial law in December 2024.<\/p>\n
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Trump’s scaling back of the exercises may prompt longtime allies to think more about their own security without U.S. help. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are hoping that the American umbrella is there for the future,\u201d said Kupchan, who worked on the National Security Council under Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, \u201cbut they have to at least contemplate the idea that Uncle Sam won\u2019t be there for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kupchan said Trump is not mistaken in wanting to have South Korea, as well as the Europeans, contribute more to their defense. But, he said, the president\u2019s unpredictable approach cuts through the solidarity that undergirds those alliances \u201cbecause he ends up insulting allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fried said Trump seems unwilling to “take a win\u201d after brow-beating NATO members and Asian allies into increasing their defense spending. <\/p>\n
\u201cNATO is building up, South Korea is building up, Japan is building up. Trump has a problem with taking the win,” said Fried, who is currently at the Atlantic Council. “It\u2019s like he wants to burn it all down.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine under President George W. Bush, said the Korea decision shows how inconsistent the Trump administration can be in its policy pronouncements. But in general, he said, the U.S. has maintained long-term alliances. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf these things grow in frequency and in importance, obviously we will be in the process of taking apart the alliance system, which has served us so well since the end of World War II,\u201d said Herbst, who also is with the Atlantic Council. \u201cBut despite some statements which seem to head in that direction, we have not headed there in a consistent, strong way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kupchan agreed. <\/p>\n
While the president\u2019s language could be taken as \u201cwe\u2019re done with you,\u201d Kupchan said, \u201cthe reality is that, at least as of today, Trump has left intact America\u2019s forward bases and its core alliance relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Trump\u2019s message to South Korea will amount to a meaningful policy change or a fleeting social media post is up in the air. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an unpredictable president,\u201d Kroenig said. \u201cIf we move on and the exercises go as planned and we never hear anything about this again, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n
Associated Press reporters Collin Binkley, Jesse Bedayn, Lisa Mascaro and Seung Min Kim in Washington and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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