President Trump Calls Joint US-ROK Exercise “A Total Waste of Money”
It seems that President Trump does not have a high opinion of the recently concluded joint US-ROK military exercise:
U.S. President Donald Trump has called the recently concluded South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise “unnecessary” and a “total waste of money” despite heightened tensions caused by Pyongyang’s recent launches of short-range projectiles.
During the Group of Seven summit in France on Sunday, Trump also told reporters that Pyongyang’s projectile launches do not represent a breach of his agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that involves nuclear and longer-range ballistic missile tests.
Pyongyang tested what it claims to be a “new” super-large multiple rocket launch system Saturday — the first such projectile launch since the allied exercise ended Tuesday, and the seventh since July 25 when the North started firing missiles and projectiles in protest in the runup to the exercise.
“I’m not happy about it. But again, he’s not in violation of an agreement,” Trump said before his bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, according to a transcript released by the White House. (………..)
“I said that to all of my people. I said, ‘I don’t want to interfere because I think if you want to do them, you can do them, if you think it’s necessary. But I think it’s a total waste of money,'” he said.
Trump went on to say, “I think it was unnecessary to do, frankly.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Who said this? Justin Trump or Donald Trudeau?
“I think if you want to do them, you can do them, if you think it’s necessary.”
Like, Melania sometimes it’s easy to mix them up.
Stephen is jealous of both Trump and Trudeau. Not a good look.
And he appears to be not very observant. Kinda like your typical lefty. After all, the press never lies, right?
Yes, Virginia, photos can lie. Especially when they’re cherry-picked from a video. What video? See the link.
https://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2019/08/25/video-debunks-the-moronic-justin-trudeau-melania-trump-distracted-boyfriend-meme-a/
I agree with Trump, the way exercises are and have been conducted in Korea for at least the last 10 years the exercises are a waste. Pre-determined outcomes, OPFOR not allowed to deviate from a preordained script and schedule which is well known to the training audience, no impacts from CLVII or IX shortages, everything is delivered/arrives on time…etc etc….. there is zero training value in them
These exercises are vital to the defense of our nation. Without them the PowerPoint skills of all the Iron Majors would degrade to such a poor state of readiness that we would become vulnerable to an attack. Plus, think of all the contractors at the KBSC, how would they feed their children if we cancelled the exercises.
Dear Visitor, please don’t be so shy. You are welcome here. Please pay no attention to the sharks with fricken lazers. We typically only snipe at our friends.
I do have a question about what you meant by “Iron Majors”. Is that a degree program at Pohang Polytechnic? Or were you refering to shiny new battalion commanders?
Anyway, the Kim Fatty regimes of the north need the exercises too. What else are they going to get their (estimated) size 62 panties in a bunch about? How else are they going to fundraise?
Iron Majors refers to majors on staff who work long hours with little recognition. Tasks include making many version of the same power point brief to satisfy the whimsy of a colonel and the brief will never actually get briefed or seen…
Aha! I never met any staff majors when I was in USAF. A lot of pilots and electronic warfare officers in my squadron were majors. There were five staff sergeants; but of course that’s a real rank, not an assignment.
They really didn’t promote fraternization between senior officers and junior enlisted in SAC. I might have been able to sympathize over their plight.
Does anybody really believes the president knows what military exercises are all about? If they were so useless, why does his buddy, the young Kim, feel so threatened by them?
JoeC, have you ever been involved in big contract negotiations? People who like each other go into a room, shout a lot, and eventually reach an agreement. Then they go to lunch together. But when they’re negotiating, they say a lot of stuff.
Trump is letting out a lot of rope for Kim Fatty III. We have yet to see a successful end to the negotiations; but Trump is pretty much advertising to the world that the US is being flexible. If the norks mistake that for weakness–and I doubt they will with Pompeo and Bolton nearby on short leashes–the UN might well vote to give ’em a “Halsey Haircut”…
Right, the guy the avoided every war in his lifetime (Captain bonespurs), mocks POW’s, shits on the troops and then uses them for political stunts, is now a “know-it-all” about a joint exercise with a nation he openly mocks and literally undermines any chance he gets.
Like seriously, do you folks even believe anything Putin’s lapdog says?