# Lawmakers call Trump’s move to gut South Korea alliance ‘inane, haphazard’

https://mins.news/en/item/24445

- The Guardian, 2026-08-17 17:43 UTC
- Politics
- Original: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/17/trump-south-korea-alliance

> Donald Trump abruptly ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea, prompting Democratic lawmakers to accuse him of flattering North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and weakening the US alliance. Trump also linked the decision to Seoul’s refusal to join the US military campaign against Iran.

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