President Trump said Wednesday that he has not intention — despite comments to the contrary this week by Defense Secretary James Mattis — to restart…
President Trump said Wednesday that he has not intention — despite comments to the contrary this week by Defense Secretary James Mattis — to restart U. S.-South Korea military drills that he halted in a show of “good faith” to Pyongyang following his June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“The President believes that his relationship with Kim Jong Un is a very good and warm one, and there is no reason at this time to spending large amounts of money on joint U. S.-South Korea war games,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter in remarks that he characterized as an official statement from the White House.
At the same time, however, Mr. Trump said he “can instantly start the joint exercises again with South Korea, and Japan, if he so chooses,” and that “if he does, they will be far bigger than ever before.”
The tweet came amid rising speculation in Washington over status of Mr. Trump ’s North Korea policy, since Mr. Mr. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday that the U. S. military plans to restart joint U. S.-South Korea drills that North Korea has long criticized as an imperialist aggression by Washington.
While the issue of the military exercises hung in the backdrop, Mr. Trump separately sought to focus attention toward his frustration with China, which his administration has been urging for more than a year to use its influence as North Korea ’s closest ally to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons.
The president roundly blamed China for foiling his efforts to reach a diplomatic breakthrough with toward denuclearization, asserting that Beijing is vindictively using its influence over Pyongyang to gain leverage in ongoing U. S.-China trade negotiations.
“ North Korea is under tremendous pressure from China because of our major trade disputes with the Chinese government,” Mr. Trump tweeted, suggesting Chinese frustration with the disputes has driven Beijing to convince Pyongyang not to cooperate with Washington.
“China is providing North Korea with considerable aid, including money, fuel, fertilizer and various other commodities,” the president added.
