Trump orders US to scale back South Korea military drills over Kim relationship

Donald Trump has ordered the United States to scale back military exercises with South Korea, citing his "very good" relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The BBC and GB News both report the move, with GB News quoting Trump praising Kim directly.

The decision revisits the pattern established during Trump's first term, when he suspended joint military drills after meeting Kim in Singapore. That summit produced a joint statement on denuclearisation but no binding agreement, and North Korea's nuclear programme continued. Trump and Kim met twice more - in Hanoi and at the Korean demilitarised zone - before talks stalled.

The framing this time is identical: the exercises are presented as a concession to Pyongyang in exchange for warmer relations, rather than as a standing commitment to an ally. South Korea, which hosts American forces and relies on the drills for readiness, is once again the variable, not the constant. The question is whether Seoul's government can accept a reduced US presence as the price of Trump's diplomacy, or whether it begins to look elsewhere for guarantees.

GB News also reports Trump accused the BBC of harassing his family by "abusing the deposition process", though no detail on the nature of the alleged abuse appears in the headlines.

What to watch: South Korea's response, and whether Trump's order includes a timeline or leaves the scale of the reduction to negotiation. The last round of this ended when Kim walked out of Hanoi. The sequel rarely improves on the original.