President Trump said that, while he would like to decrease the U.S. military’s footprint in South Korea, a drawdown of troops on the Korean Peninsula is not currently “on the table.”
“I would love to get the military out as soon as we can because it costs a lot of money and a lot of money for us. … I’d like to get them home,” Trump told Fox News in an interview aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. “I would like to, but it is not on the table right now. At the appropriate time, it will be.”
[Lindsey Graham: ‘Violently disagree’ with pulling US troops from South Korea]
North Korea has long demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea as a condition for giving up its nuclear weapons. The U.S. has roughly 28,500 service members stationed in the South and the military has maintained a presence there since the end of the Korean War.
But Trump told Fox News the military “is not drawing down at all.”
“In fact, honestly, it was never discussed,” he said of his discussions with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. “I am sure he would like that. It was never on the table.”
Trump returned to D.C. from his historic summit in Singapore with Kim on Wednesday.
Following meetings between officials from the U.S. and Pyongyang, Trump and Kim signed a joint statement that included, among other pledges, a commitment from North Korea to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Trump told reporters after the summit’s conclusion the U.S. would cease joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, calling them “very provocative” and expensive.
The president’s announcement regarding the joint military drills on the Korean Peninsula was the subject of scrutiny from some who argued he made significant concessions to Kim.
