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WP: Trump Threatens to Withdraw USFK over Trade Negotiations

News2018-03-15
WP: Trump Threatens to Withdraw USFK over Trade Negotiations

The Washington Post(WP) says that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea if trade negotiations with the Asian ally do not go his way. 

The WP made the revelation on Wednesday based on an audio recording it obtained of Trump’s 30-minute speech at a fundraising event in Missouri earlier in the day. 

According to the report, Trump said the U.S. loses money on both trade and the military relations with South Korea while protecting the country. Citing an approximate size of the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, Trump said, “Let’s see what happens.”

Regarding his decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in May, the WP said that Trump described it as a history-making event and a feat that makes him better than his predecessors. 

Mimicking former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Trump said that they couldn’t have met with Kim and that in fact nobody else would have done what he did. 

The report also quoted Trump as saying that the South Korean presidential envoys to Pyongyang, including National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, told him last week that the North Korean leader was agreeing to meet with him because of the tough U.S. sanctions. Trump added the North promised to not do any nuclear tests or missile launches until a meeting occurred. 

Mocking a news anchor that once criticized his tough policy toward the North, Trump appeared to claim that he was right, saying “You know what’s going to get us in a war? Weakness.”

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