Has Trump Abandoned Asia? (Level 1)

President Donald Trump has ordered a big reduction in a joint military exercise between the United States and South Korea. The exercise began on Monday. Trump said the exercise sent a hostile signal to North Korea. He also shared an old photo with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and said they get along well. Over the weekend, the US also moved an aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, from the western Pacific to the Middle East. This helps the US military near Iran, but it leaves no American aircraft carrier in the Asia-Pacific. That worries allies like South Korea and Japan, which face China. Trump's decision to reduce the drills may be partly because South Korea refused to join the US war against Iran. Asian allies are now improving their own defense ties and asking whether the US will defend them.