Academic Tom Nichols believes he's cracked the code on why President Donald Trump made the "insane" decision Sunday to scale down joint military exercises with longtime ally South Korea – and it comes down to the president's "unbearable" and "ongoing humiliation."
Trump took to Truth Social Sunday to announce that he’d instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” the United States’ participation in its annual joint military exercise with South Korea, which has been conducted for more than 70 years. In the same social media post, Trump also complained about South Korea’s refusal to assist in the deeply unpopular U.S. war against Iran.
Writing for The Atlantic in an analysis published Sunday night, Nichols bluntly argued that the United States was “now losing that conflict,” and that the Trump administration had “suffered one embarrassment after another,” flagging Trump’s recent escape on a catering truck as a notable example.
Nichols also argued Trump’s attack on South Korea was directly related to the “president’s failure” in Iran.
“America and the rest of the world are now witnessing a public exhibition of narcissistic rage. Trump embarked on a war for personal glory, and what he got instead was ongoing humiliation. He clearly finds it all unbearable,” Nichols wrote.
“Trump both fears and respects the autocrats who rule Russia, China, and North Korea, and so he dares not cross them. Instead, he is seeking to assuage the psychic injury of his loss in Iran – including the American public learning of the shameful conditions to which he has subjected U.S. forces – by kicking America’s allies, the nations he can punish without fear that they will kick him back.”
Furthermore, Nichols warned that Trump’s slight to South Korea would likely embolden those he characterized as the United States’ adversaries on the world stage.
“The Chinese and the Russians and the North Koreas are certain to draw the appropriate lessons from this deranged policy. They have been shown, yet again, that when Trump fails, he hurts those he feels safe hurting,” he wrote.
“Already, North Korea is dispatching missiles and thousands of soldiers to aid Russia in its war on Ukraine. If a conflict should break out in the Pacific or on the Korean peninsula, or if the war in Europe spreads further West, the world’s dictators might well count on Trump to focus American wrath not on the enemies of the free world, but on the nations that have always pledged to stand side by side with the United States in a mutual defense of freedom.”