Pence met with GOP leaders to explain Trump's promises to North Korea. They are still confused.


President Trump's controversial announcement that the U.S. would cease its "very provocative" and "very expensive" joint military drills with South Korea is causing some confusion on Capitol Hill.
After his summit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said the U.S. would stop its "war games" on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. regularly participates in military exercises with South Korea, which Kim has characterized as a "provocation" from the two nations. But Trump's announcement immediately sent government officials scrambling: U.S. troops said they hadn't heard anything about ceasing their exercises, and South Korea's government said it was seeking to "find out the precise meaning or intentions" of Trump's promise.
Even Vice President Mike Pence proliferated the post-summit chaos. Pence met with Republican members of Congress to try and fill them in on what Trump agreed to with Kim, but left some lawmakers more confused than ever. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) said that Pence was "very clear" in telling GOP leaders that regular military exercises would in fact continue, despite Trump's announcement. Others said there was no clear answer in how the U.S. military would move forward.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Finally, Pence's office told some reporters that the biannual exercises would come to an end, but "routine exercises" would continue. The White House has yet to publicly clarify what, precisely, Trump's promise to decrease U.S. military presence in the region will look like.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday
-
Smithsonian asserts its autonomy from Trump
speed read The DC institution defied Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet
-
Trump sends Marines to LA, backs Newsom arrest
speed read California Gov. Gavin Newsom is filing lawsuits in response to Trump's escalation of the federal response to ICE protests