Donald Trump says “too late to cancel” and tells Hegseth to reduce joint exercises with South Korea

President Donald Trump said Sunday on a social media post that he had directed Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea, calling the drills costly and saying they sent an inappropriate and hostile signal to North Korea. He said the North had been nonthreatening and respectful toward his administration, and that because it was too late to cancel the training, he instead ordered it scaled back. The exercises had been set to involve 18,000 South Korean troops over 11 days. Days earlier, North Korea threatened unspecified strong steps and called such drills a rehearsal for aggressive war. Trump also said South Korea’s president declined a request to join U.S. efforts to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. He has expressed interest in resuming nuclear discussions with North Korea after meeting Kim Jong Un three times in his first term.