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Trump's 2026 defense policy bill restricts USFK troop reduction

Published: 19 Dec. 2025, 11:40 Updated: 19 Dec. 2025, 16:01

U.S. President Donald Trump gives remarks as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Dec. 18. [EPA/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an annual defense policy bill that includes a measure to restrict the government from unilaterally reducing the current troop level of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), according to the White House.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense from October this year to September next year, passed the House of Representatives last week and the Senate on Wednesday before being signed into law by Trump.

The bill says that amounts authorized under the act may not be obligated or expended to reduce U.S. troops in Korea, though it leaves open the door for the use of the funds following certification that a USFK troop reduction would be in the United States' national security interest, and that the action is being undertaken only after appropriate consultations with allies, including Korea.

Also, without such a certification, funds allocated under the act may not be expended to complete the transition of wartime operational control from the United States to Korea in a manner that deviates from bilateral agreements, the bill says.

The measure to restrict the USFK troop drawdown reappeared in the bill for the first time in five years. It was included in the NDAA during the first Trump administration in a move to help prevent a unilateral troop drawdown.

The bill authorizes $901 billion in military spending for the upcoming fiscal year.

Congress passes it each year to set defense policy and funding priorities and give guidance on a range of key security matters.

Yonhap