Bipartisan backlash as Trump scales back US-South Korea drills

WASHINGTON: Senior US senators from both parties on Monday criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea, warning the move would benefit North Korea and unsettle one of Washington’s closest Asian allies.

Trump ordered the Pentagon to downsize what he called “inappropriate and hostile” drills just hours before the exercises were due to begin, citing his “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a post Sunday on Truth Social, Trump also pointed to South Korea’s refusal to join the United States in the “denuclearization” of Iran.

“This is another inane, haphazard decision by President Trump and his chaotic administration,” said Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “When President Trump cuts military exercises to flatter a dictator or punishes South Korea for declining to join a war he started, all of our allies — and adversaries — think that America’s commitments are negotiable.”