U.S. to trim military exercises with South Korea after Trump says Seoul declined to help on Iran while the North is ‘unthreatening and respectful’

President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon on Sunday to scale back planned joint military exercises with South Korea after the Republican president said South Korea declined to help denuclearize Iran.

Trump said in a social media post that the exercises slated to begin this week are costly and “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” while Trump has been in the White House.

“Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises!” Trump wrote.

The 11 days of exercises involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers were designed to beef up readiness against North Korean threats.

U.S. and South Korean forces were expected to practice joint operations in complex scenarios, including a live-fire exercise to test joint precision targeting and maneuver, a wet gap crossing, and distribution of prepositioned military equipment, according to the U.S. military.

A day earlier, Trump posted a photo of himself standing next to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, writing that the two leader...