What did Donald Trump do today?
He took North Korea's side against South Korea's government—and the United States'.
Trump posted this to his private microblogging site today:
Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I 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. 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! While somewhat unrelated (?), I 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, "No thanks!" Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
To be clear, this framing—that North Korea is a well-behaved part of the international community and South Korea is making aggressive moves towards it—is exactly the stance taken by the North Korean government. Just a few days ago, the DPRK called the exercises "a rehearsal for an aggressive war." It also threatened to escalate its "deterrence" towards South Korea.
Possibly that threat is what spooked Trump, although it shouldn't have. North Korea routinely uses the US-South Korea exercises as an excuse for weapons tests, and as an opportunity to rally support for the ruling regime.
The "unthreatening and respectful" North Korea has been supplying Russia with weapons used against Ukraine, although for several obvious reasons that bothers Trump less than it does the rest of the United States government. But it's certainly true that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un enjoys a warm relationship with Trump, who—in his own words—"fell in love" with Kim during his first term.
It's also true that Trump demanded that South Korea get involved in his disastrous war with Iran, but—as with all of the United States' allies except Israel—only after the fact, and only once it was clear that he had gotten the United States stuck in a quagmire. Its government declined for the same reason that other allies did: there is no workable military solution to the problem Trump has created for the United States and the rest of the world short of a full-scale invasion, which would be a bloodbath even if it succeeded and would completely destroy any stability in the Middle East for years to come.
There's one other reason, besides his friendship with Kim Jong-un (who impressed Trump by having an dissident uncle murdered with an anti-aircraft gun), that Trump might be taking North Korea's side. South Korea impeached and then criminally convicted its former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for illegal military actions he took in an attempt to justify a declaration of martial law that he thought would help him stay in power.
Why does this matter?
- South Korea is an ally of the United States and North Korea is not, and no president who is confused about that is fit to serve.
- The leader of a democracy should not so reliably and predictably side with authoritarian regimes.