{"id":2645834,"date":"2026-08-16T20:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-orders-hegseth-to-substantially-reduce-joint-military-operations-with-south-korea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T20:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T00:47:18","slug":"trump-orders-hegseth-to-substantially-reduce-joint-military-operations-with-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-orders-hegseth-to-substantially-reduce-joint-military-operations-with-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump orders Hegseth to &#8216;substantially reduce&#8217; joint military operations with South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-orders-hegseth-to-substantially-reduce-joint-military-operations-with-south-korea%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2645834&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea, citing a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and concerns that such exercises are costly and send opposed signals. trump expressed dissatisfaction with the long-standing drills, emphasizing they are needless and unthreatening provided that North Korea remains respectful. Despite his objections, the exercises, part of the Ulchi Freedom Shield training involving 18,000 South Korean soldiers alongside U.S. forces, are scheduled to proceed. Trump also mentioned that South Korea declined to join the U.S. in efforts to denuclearize Iran. The move follows rising tensions and North Korea firing two ballistic missiles amid ongoing military activities in the region. Trump highlighted his past diplomatic efforts, including three meetings with Kim Jong Un during his presidency, and shared positive remarks about their relationship.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> directed Secretary of War <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> to \u201csubstantially reduce\u201d the number of joint miliitary operations the United States military conducts with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/south-korea\/\">South Korea<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBased on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117107215379637520\">Trump said<\/a>. \u201cI am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint 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 has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4689217\/trump-hegseth-reduce-joint-military-operations-south-korea\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump orders Hegseth to \u2018substantially reduce\u2019 joint military operations with South Korea<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4689193\/kushner-speaks-hamas-chief-gaza-day-netanyahu\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Kushner speaks with Hamas chief on Gaza plan day before Netanyahu meeting<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4689070\/colombia-president-trump-tariffs-earthquake\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Colombian president asks Trump to suspend tariffs to help earthquake recovery<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump noted in the announcement \u201cit is too late to cancel\u201d the exercises, saying Hegseth should \u201csubstantially reduce\u201d them. He also said South Korean President Lee Jae Myung rejected a recent offer to join the U.S. in working to denuclearize Iran.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, \u2018No thanks!\u2019\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The post comes the night before an 11-day joint exercise called Ulchi Freedom Shield is set to begin, in which 18,000 South Korean soldiers <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/national-security\/trump-orders-cuts-to-u-s-south-korea-military-drills-2bc63cec\">train alongside<\/a> U.S. forces to enhance readiness against a North Korean attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4520116\/north-korea-fires-two-ballistic-missiles\/\"><strong>NORTH KOREA FIRES TWO BALLISTIC MISSILES AMID RISING TENIONS ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s directive follows a turbulent week for Hegseth after the war secretary pushed back <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4685007\/navy-mental-health-sailors-abraham-lincoln-iran-war\/\">on reports<\/a> of \u201cdire conditions\u201d aboard the <em>USS Abraham Lincoln <\/em>deployed in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump met with the North Korean leader three times during his first term to discuss the nation\u2019s nuclear program. He <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/117100150900258418\">also posted a picture<\/a> of the two leaders on social media on Saturday alongside a caption saying, \u201cKim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump orders reduction of US-South Korea military drills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3238,"featured_media":2645835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-lwqvt5b5q-1786921912525-e1786925234918.jpg?1786907643&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[45173,37855,34188,3634],"class_list":["post-2645834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-hegseth","tag-military-operations","tag-south-korea","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-lwqvt5b5q-1786921912525-e1786925234918.jpg?1786907643&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2645834"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645837,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2645834\/revisions\/2645837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2645835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2645834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2645834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2645834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}