What’s going on with Trump and Kim Jong-un?

Sarah Hooper | Live News Reporter Published August 17, 2026 1:06pm Updated August 17, 2026 1:06pm The US President has now slammed a joint military exercise with South Korea (Picture: API) Vladimir Putin. Nayib Bukele. Bashar al-Assad. Kim Jong-Un. It’s no secret that Donald Trump likes to cosy up to authoritarian leaders, often praising them for their hard-line stances and posing for photos with them. Now, to appease Kim Jong Un, Trump has taken to social media to complain about how he ‘isn’t happy’ with the United States’ upcoming military exercises with South Korea. ‘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 h