Fact check: Every single part of this Trump story about South Korea is wrong - CNN

President Trump repeated a false story about South Korea on Monday, August 17, 2026, and CNN reports that every element of the account is inaccurate.
The remarks came a day after Trump announced the US would scale back military exercises with South Korea, citing his relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un and noting Seoul declined to join the US war with Iran.
Trump claimed South Korea "essentially" did not pay for the US military presence before his first term, but cost-sharing "Special Measures Agreements" between the two countries date back to 1991.
Under the final agreement signed before Trump took office in 2017, negotiated by the Obama administration, South Korea agreed to pay more than $800 million annually from 2014 through 2018.
Trump asserted South Korea agreed to pay "$3 billion" a year during his term, a figure CNN says is not accurate, and he also overstated the US military presence as "39,000" when the Pentagon put it at 26,589 as of the end of March.
Trump further alleged the "rigged" 2020 election led Biden to "immediately rescind" his order after South Korea persuaded Biden that Trump was "probably a bad person," among at least five separate inaccurate claims identified in the fact check.