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The rises and falls of Trump's USFK troop level claims

Published: 18 Mar. 2026, 13:59 Updated: 18 Mar. 2026, 19:19

U.S. President Donald Trump gives remarks to the media as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 16. [EPA/YONHAP]

U.S. President Donald Trump's assertion on Monday that there are 45,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea was the latest in a series of overinflated claims about the strength of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), despite the number remaining unchanged for years.

Trump mentioned South Korea, Japan and other countries on Monday as he urged them to join an operation to escort ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to leverage U.S. military presence overseas.

"You have to remember, we have 45,000 troops in Japan, we have 45,000 troops in South Korea, we have 45,000 — 50,000 troops in Germany," he said. "We defend all these countries."

Trump’s figures for all three countries differ from official levels. The U.S. troop presence is about 50,000 in Japan, 28,500 in South Korea and 35,000 in Germany. USFK has maintained the same level since 2008, when then-President Lee Myung-bak and then-U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to suspend a planned reduction in U.S. military personnel.

A review by the JoongAng Ilbo of Trump’s past public remarks on USFK shows that he has cited larger figures over time. Over the past decade, he has referred to the USFK presence as 28,000, 32,000, 40,000 and 45,000.

The lowest figure came during the campaign for his first term, in 2016. “So we have 28,000 people on the border separating South Korea from this maniac in North Korea,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina. “We get nothing. They're making a fortune. It's an economic behemoth.”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 17, St. Patrick's Day. [AP/YONHAP]

He repeated the same number in an interview with CNBC the same year.

After taking office, Trump began citing higher numbers. At a joint news conference with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November 2017, he said there were 33,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. At a Republican fundraising event in 2018, he cited a 32,000-service-member deployment as he pressed South Korea to revise the two countries' FTA.

As Washington pressed Seoul ahead of negotiations on the Special Measures Agreement on defense cost sharing in 2019, Trump claimed USFK totaled 40,000 troops. After leaving office, he at times used smaller figures. He wrote that there were 35,000 U.S. troops in South Korea in a Truth Social post in March 2023.

Trump began referring more frequently to a USFK presence in the 40,000 range in the run-up to his return to office.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Verst Logistics in Hebron, Kentucky, on March 11. [AP/YONHAP]

"If I were there [in the White House] now, they'd be paying us $10 billion a year. And you know what? They'd be happy to do it,” Trump said in October 2024, describing South Korea as a “money machine” while claiming there were 40,000 U.S. troops in South Korea.

This year, that figure has risen to 45,000.

The latest elevated figure coincided with stronger calls for support from Seoul to ensure steady maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli strikes that have taken out several top-level government figures, including the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Trump walked back the request in a Truth Social post that said, "Speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM KI-HWAN [[email protected]]