US Democrats Slam Trump for Cutting Joint Military Drills with South Korea

President Donald Trump is facing criticism over his decision to scale back joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, with numerous Democratic lawmakers accusing him of abandoning Washington's ally.

Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the decision “nonsensical” and said it sends a message that “America's commitments are negotiable.”

“China and Russia are watching how easily this president abandons America's allies, and they will remember it when they test us next time,” Reed said Monday.

Trump announced Sunday that he had ordered the Pentagon to “significantly reduce” joint exercises with South Korean forces. He justified the decision based on a “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as Seoul's refusal to join the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

“I recently asked the President of South Korea whether they wanted to join us in the denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No, thanks!'” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The U.S. president often describes the war with Iran as a denuclearization effort, but Tehran insists it does not possess nuclear weapons.

Military exercises with South Korea are part of a decades-long defense partnership between the two nations, including the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty that places Seoul under Washington's security umbrella. In a fact sheet, the U.S. State Department describes the strategic partnership with South Korea as “a linchpin for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Democratic Rep. Andy Kim accused Trump of ignoring that partnership. “Decisions about joint exercises should be made jointly — not unilaterally announced via social media,” Kim posted on X. “I will continue to push this administration to strengthen our security, economic, trade, and technology ties — which benefit the American people and the broader Indo-Pacific.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal called Trump's decision “dangerous” for regional stability. “So — the wannabe autocrat of America has decided to abandon democracy in South Korea for the autocratic rules of North Korea that he admires so much?” Jayapal wrote on social media.

The new policy comes amid a U.S. shift away from its Asia-Pacific regional focus — a doctrine often informally called the “pivot to Asia” — in strategic competition with China. Trump's National Security Strategy last year called for moving U.S. foreign policy resources to the Western Hemisphere, and the war with Iran is adding more strain on Washington's military and diplomacy.

During his first term, Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times between 2018 and 2019, following escalated tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. After the summits, he praised his relationship with Kim, but the talks yielded no diplomatic breakthrough or progress on U.S. goals for denuclearizing North Korea. Pyongyang has also continued missile tests despite U.S. and allied opposition, including a launch earlier this month.

The reduction in military exercises with South Korea has drawn rare Republican criticism of Trump's policy. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis argued the decision frees up North Korea to boost support for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war in Ukraine.

“South Korea is a steadfast military ally of over 70 years with excellent military capability,” Tillis wrote on X. “Reducing joint exercises with South Korea does nothing but free up thousands of North Korean troops to support Putin in systematically kidnapping, torturing, raping, and murdering innocent Ukrainian people.”