Trump’s Push To Cut Korea Drills Exposes Deeper Rift With Seoul

August 22, 2026 6:19 PM ET U.S.-South Korea relations may be under more strain than meets the eye as military, economic and diplomatic disagreements increasingly test the longtime alliance.Disputes over military commitments, trade and President Donald Trump’s outreach to North Korea have put a crimp in what has been a

WASHINGTON -- Democratic lawmakers stepped up their offensive against US President Donald Trump on Friday, after he ordered the scaling back of military exercises with South Korea while pushing for renewed summitry with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year. In an X post on Friday, Senate Democrats criticized Trump

Pyongyang has long condemned US-South Korea joint exercises as rehearsals for invasion, often staging missile launches around the drills.

President Trump confirmed he plans to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un later this year, the third sitdown between the two across the commander in chief’s two terms. The president says he has a very good relationship with Kim and while speaking to the media also noted that he didn’t like the massive...