President Donald Trump welcomed Lee Jae Myung, the new president of South Korea, to the White House on Monday afternoon for talks expected to center on trade and defense.

Hours ahead of the visit, Trump posted on social media that a “Purge or Revolution” was taking place in South Korea and threatened not to do business with Seoul. It was not immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but South Korea had been in a state of political turmoil for the last several months after its former leader, the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, was ousted from office after imposing martial law last December.

Before Trump’s post, the first in-person meeting between him and the liberal Lee had been expected to help flesh out details of a July trade deal between the two countries that has Seoul investing hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. The agreement set tariffs on South Korean goods at 15% after Trump threatened rates as high as 25%.

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Trump made it a recurring theme on the campaign trail in both 2016 and 2024.

He has drawn controversial comparisons between the city and war zones like Afghanistan, and in 2017, vowed to “send in the feds” in response to gun violence — a move that came even as the city was experiencing a broader trend of declining violent crime.

Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of the year, representing the steepest decline in over a decade, according to city data. Shootings are down 37%, and homicides have dropped by 32%, while total violence crime dropped by over 22%.

Crime in Chicago also represents persistent, localized challenges, said Kimberley Smith, director of national programs for the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The neighborhoods with the highest homicide rates experience approximately 68 times more homicides than those with the lowest rates.

Smith attributes much of the drops in violent crime to a focus in Chicago on the systemic drivers of violence, rather than the militaristic approach Trump has touted in Washington, D.C. She encouraged more federal investment in researching these types of violence prevention strategies.

“Kind of out of necessity Chicago has become a hub for innovation in gun violence prevention,” she said.

When asked whether he’d be open to sending National Guard troops into Republican-led states and cities with high levels of crime in addition to as Democratic-led states, the president said, “Sure, but there aren’t that many of them.”

On the first day of school in Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said she sympathized with the dilemma of immigrant parents who may be keeping their children home for fear of being detained or arrested by ICE agents.

“Parents are anxious. We’ve heard from a lot of them,” Bowser said, following a ribbon cutting ceremony for a newly renovated bilingual middle school. “Parents who need to make adjustments are going to be making adjustments, and that’s a sad thing to say. Schools should be safe places.”

As schools opened across the capital city, parental social media groups and listservs were buzzing with reports and rumors of checkpoints and arrests from the hundreds of federal law enforcement personnel who have flooded the city.

Bowser didn’t mention Trump by name, but harshly criticized any immigration crackdown that targets school children.

“Any attempt to target children is heartless, is mean, is uncalled for and it only hurts us,” she said. “I would just call for everybody to leave our kids alone.”

As South Korea’s president described a prosecutor appointed by his country’s National Assembly, Trump interjected, “Is his name Deranged Jack Smith, by any chance?”

Trump called Smith, who led two criminal cases against Trump before he took office for his second term, “a deranged, sick individual.”

“I’m only kidding. Maybe I’m not,” Trump added.

Trump suggested before his meeting with Lee began that a “Purge or Revolution” was taking place in South Korea.

By way of explanation, Lee talked about investigating what he called “turmoil” after former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law and was ousted from office.

A sizeable bruise on Trump’s right hand was exposed during his meeting with the South Korean President Lee.

Last Friday, the president’s hand was covered with a noticeable splotch of makeup that did not match his skin tone.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said Trump’s hand bruising is “consistent” with irritation from his “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.”

Asked about famine in Gaza, Trump talked about Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023 and about the people still being held hostage by the militant group.

He said the U.S. is spending a lot of money to help feed the hungry in Gaza and that, “I think within the next two to three weeks you’re going to have a pretty good conclusive ending.”

President Trump said he would be traveling to China “at some point probably this year” after he said Chinese President Xi Jinping would like him to go to China.

Trump called the bilateral ties “a very important relationship.”

“We’re going to get along with China,” he said. The two countries are seeking to strike a trade deal, after both sides called a truce in escalating tariffs and export restrictions.

Trump said he’s resetting the economic relations with China, referring to his levying tariffs on Chinese goods.

Since he took office, Trump has levied 54% tariffs across the board on Chinese goods, though his administration has paused 24%, pending final negotiations.

In both of his appearances in the Oval Office Monday, Trump has mused about renaming the Department of Defense to its original name, the Department of War.

The name was changed in 1949.

Trump said the previous name “had a stronger sound” and there might be an update on the potential name change “over the next couple weeks.”

The U.S. president responded to a question about whether he would return to the Demilitarized Zone that separates the Koreas by fondly recalling the last time he did so in 2019.

“Remember when I walked across the line and everyone went crazy?” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon.

He recalled that everyone went crazy, “especially Secret Service.”

But “I loved it,” Trump said. He added that he felt safe because he had a good relationship with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean dictator.

Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot on North Korean soil in June 2019 during an unannounced trip to the DMZ.

The president suggested that the U.S. should do away with a lease covering a large joint American-South Korean military base.

“I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease, and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base,” Trump said.

Osan Air Base is a joint U.S. Air Force and South Korean base on South Korea’s west coast.

“I don’t know that they’ll meet, Trump said. “Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t.”

Trump last week following his hosting of European leaders and Zelenskyy for talks, as well as speaking by phone with Putin, said that he was arranging direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy that might be followed by three-way talks in which he’d take part.

But Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, made it clear Friday that Putin won’t meet with Zelenskyy until the Ukrainians agree to some of Moscow’s longstanding demands to end the conflict.

“It takes two to tango. I always say,” Trump said. “And they, should meet, I think, before I have a meeting and probably close the deal.”

While answering a question about the conflict, Trump said “this is a whole new form of war.”

He highlighted to use of flying drones, which have been widely deployed for reconnaissance and weaponry.

“A drone war never existed before,” he said. “We’re actually studying it.”

“I would like to ask for your role in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula,” President Lee told Trump. He even added that he’d like to see “construction of a Trump tower in North Korea and playing golf.”

Kim added of a possible upcoming meeting between Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un, “I believe that he will be waiting for you.”

Trump said he had a very good relationship in his first term with Kim though he also called him “Little Rocket Man.”

Trump repeated his suggestions that he could soon meet with Kim and suggested he could help work toward peace.

President Donald Trump, right, shakes the hand of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Lee Jae Myung complimented Trump’s decorative touches in the Oval Office, to which Trump has added numerous gold accents around the room.

He told Trump the office “looks very bright and beautiful” and has “the dignity of America.”

He also said, “I think America is becoming great again.”

House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer wrote that the Republican-led committee will probe “disturbing allegations that DC crime data is inaccurate and intentionally manipulated” in a letter to Metropolitan Police Chief Pam Smith.

Comer cited local reports that a police commander for Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department was put on administrative leave after allegedly altering some crime statistics. Mayor Muriel Bowser has confirmed there is an ongoing investigation into the incident.

“In light of these reports and a related whistleblower disclosure made to the committee, the committee requests documents and information, as well as transcribed interviews with the district commanders of each of the seven patrol districts,” Comer wrote.

The move comes two weeks after President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency over crime in the nation’s capital. More than 2300 National Guard troops have been deployed to the city along with a surge in federal law enforcement agents from the FBI, ICE, DEA and other agencies.

The Justice Department launched its own investigation into DC’s crime statistics. Trump and Republicans have cast doubt on those statistics and scrutinized some local policing policies they allege reduced the reports of criminal acts.

The endowment is “updating its grantmaking policy priorities to focus funding on projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity as prioritized by the Administration Consequently, we are cancelling existing funding opportunities that fall outside these new priorities,” reads an email sent to novelist Marie Myung-Ok Lee, echoing language received by numerous authors who posted emails from the federal agency.

The fellowships were established in 2001 and have been awarded to hundreds of authors, including such prize winners as Jhumpa Lahiri, Andrew Sean Greer and Terrance Hayes. They offer up to $50,000 to fiction and nonfiction writers.

The NEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Like other federal cultural organizations, the NEA has faced cuts in funding and pressure from the Trump administration to emphasize more patriotic themes.

Lee Jae Myung, the new president of South Korea, has arrived at the White House for his meeting with Trump.

He waved to the gathered press as Trump welcomed him on the West Wing driveway.

They are now headed for their meeting at the Oval Office.

Perhaps, the most significant announcement from last week’s White House gathering with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leader was Trump affirming that the U.S. would support Europe’s security guarantees for Kyiv once the Russian invasion ends.

But Trump said on Monday, “we haven’t even discussed the specifics” of just how the U.S. would be involved in assisting a European-led effort. “But we’ll be involved, and from the standpoint of backup, we’re going to help them.”

Just before wrapping up his comments in the Oval Office, Trump said the administration would soon be reducing drug prices anywhere from 1,000% to 1,500%. He noted that many other countries pay far less for prescription drugs than people do in the U.S. Trump made a similar promise earlier in August.

Drug prices obviously cannot be reduced more than 100%, but experts have told the Associated Press that while the Trump administration has taken steps to lower prescription drug prices, there’s no indication costs have dropped such a massive drop.

“I find it really difficult to translate those numbers into some actual estimates that patients would see at the pharmacy counter,” said Mariana Socal, an associate professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University who studies the U.S. pharmaceutical market. She added that Trump’s math is “really hard to follow.”

▶Read more about Trump’s promise to massively reduce drug prices

“I have very good relationships with Kim Jong Un and North Korea,” Trump told reporters. He even suggested that he had a better relationship with Kim than almost anyone but Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong.

“A lot of people would say, ‘That’s terrible.’ No it’s good,” Trump added, recalling meeting with North Korea’s leader during his first term.

“In fact, some day, I’ll see him,” Trump said of a possible second-term meeting with Kim. “I look forward to seeing him.”

Israeli officials say of the 50 hostages still held by Hamas, only about 20 remain alive. The rest were either killed during the October 2023 attack or while in captivity, according to Israeli officials.

But Trump on Monday told reporters that are “probably a little bit less than 20 because I think one or two are gone.”

Trump did not elaborate on what his estimate is based on.

In long comments to reporters, Trump mixed up the name of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I did a favor for Christie, uh, for Christe Whitman. Uh, Whitmer,” Trump said of the Democratic leader of Michigan.

He was trying to describe an April meeting where Whitmer and the president discussed sparing an Air Force Base in Michigan from being closed.

But the president appeared to be mixing up Whitmer’s name with that of Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey.

It was the kind of verbal gaffe Trump routinely says his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, might have made — claiming it was evidence Biden was mentally diminished.

In other comments Monday, Trump suggested Biden “didn’t know he was alive” and “didn’t know what he was doing.”

In a Truth Social post Monday, the U.S. president blasted critics of the government’s new 10% stake in the chipmaker as “stupid,” adding he would make similar deals “all day long.”

Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett signaled the same Monday, telling CNBC that Friday’s deal that some conservatives have labeled “socialism” was part of broader strategy of setting up a sovereign wealth fund that would invest in an array of companies.

“I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions, if not in this industry then other industries,” the National Economic Council director said.

Asked about an overnight Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza that killed five journalists, including a freelancer who worked for The Associated Press, Trump said initially he wasn’t aware the incident before offering: “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it.”

“And I think he’s very bad for votes,” Trump said. He also criticized “liberal courts” for protecting Abrego Garcia, but added, “We have that under control.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking in the Oval Office at Trump’s side, said of Abrego Garcia, “He will no longer terrorize our country.”

“The guy needs to be in prison. He doesn’t need to be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be,” Bondi said.

The comments followed Abrego Garcia being detained by immigration authorities to face renewed efforts to deport him.

Trump and members of his administration have made unsubstantiated exaggerations in order to justify bringing the military into Democratic run cities such as Washington and Los Angeles. Here are just a couple examples from today:

— Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff on Washington: “You have people who can walk freely at night without having to worry about being robbed or mugged, or wearing their watches again. They’re wearing jewelry again. They’re carrying purses again.”

— Trump on Los Angeles: “The criminals, when they go in, they have to break the windows in order to steal whatever it is in the car they’re looking for. ... I’ve been told by many people — stars, big people — they leave their car doors open so the doors aren’t destroyed by these criminals.”

The administration offered no proof to support these statements.

More than 180 current and former employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency published a letter Monday warning that debilitating cuts to the agency charged with handling federal disaster response risks a catastrophe like the one seen after Hurricane Katrina.

Addressed to the FEMA Review Council and Congress, the letter contains six “statements of opposition” to current policies at FEMA, including a burdensome expenditure approval policy implemented by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem which the signatories say reduces FEMA’s ability to perform its missions.

It also critiques a DHS decision to reassign some FEMA employees to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the failure to appoint a qualified FEMA administrator as stipulated by law, and cuts to mitigation programs, preparedness training and FEMA workforce.

About 140 staff members at the Environmental Protection Agency were placed on administrative leave last month for signing a similar statement.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is applauding the decision to arm National Guard troops deployed to fight crime in Washington.

“It’s just common sense to make sure they’re armed,” Hegseth said. He added that troops are therefore, “Capable of defending themselves and others.”

Some National Guard units patrolling the nation’s capital have started carrying firearms at Trump’s direction — a major escalation of his military deployment that makes good on a directive issued late last week by Hegseth.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin is calling on his party to “fight like hell” as he welcomes Democrats from across the nation to the DNC’s summer meeting in Minneapolis.

In his welcome address Monday morning, Martin charged that President Trump is dismantling democracy and peoples’ lives.

“This is not politics as usual. This is authoritarianism. It’s fascism dressed in a red tie,” Martin said. “And all the Democrats throughout this country, we are the only thing standing in his way.”

Martin is focusing his ire on the Republican president, but he’s also confronting internal divisions in the DNC’s first meeting since he became party chair. His critics believe the party isn’t doing enough to push back against Trump.

“I get it. People are pissed off. I’m pissed off,” Martin said Monday morning. “We are still unified despite our differences.”

Vance slammed Democratic governors who’ve criticized the Trump administration for using National Guard troops to fight crime in big cities, saying “we want people to welcome us, to ask us” for sending in the military.

“They’re angrier about the fact the president of the United States is offering to help them get their crime under control than they are about the fact that murderers are running roughshod over their cities and have been for decades,” Vance said of top Democrats.

He said Trump’s Washington crackdown meant people who would have been killed are now “living, breathing” and going on with their lives in the nation’s capital.

Trump signed the order that charges the Department of Justice with investigating instances of flag burning. Trump said those who burn the United States flag would be charged with inciting a riot and receive one year in jail with no opportunity for early release.

Trump said burning an American flag “incites riots at levels we’ve never seen before.”

Trump’s advisers said the executive order “wouldn’t fall afoul of the First Amendment,” which protects the freedom of speech, but did not expand on what that meant.

The 1984 Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson ruled flag burning constitutes “symbolic speech” that’s protected by the First Amendment.

A White House aide told Trump the order would require the defense secretary to establish specialized units in the DC National Guard and National Guard units across the country that are trained and equipped to deal with “public order issues.”

Some critics of Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops across Washington, D.C., have argued that these troops aren’t trained in policing.

The executive order also tasks the U.S. attorney general with reviewing local police orders that are believed to impede law enforcement efforts in the city and take steps to undo them.

He’s been complaining about former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign executive orders and pardons, suggesting without evidence that presidential power was hijacked under his predecessor.

Trump suggested that people pardoned by Biden — including some of Trump’s political enemies — could still be prosecuted.

“It looks like those pardons are worthless,” he said.

Trump said Biden’s pardons went to “very unpatriotic people, very evil people.”

Trump is vowing to improve Washington’s roads and medians and undertake a larger city beautification plan quickly and at little cost.

After saying last week that he’d ask Congress for “about $2 billion” in funding to improve Washington, the president declared, “Congress said they’ll give us whatever money is needed to fix up the capital.”

Despite the backlash to his crackdown in D.C., Trump insisted his approach is popular. He compared it to debates over transgender athletes, another divisive issue he harnessed during last year’s election.

“This is another ‘men in women’s sports’ things,” he said.

“I think the Democrats better get smart,” Trump said. “Politically, I hope they don’t, but actually, in terms of love for the country, I hope they do, because it would be good to work together.”

Responding to critics decrying his crackdown in Washington, Trump said, “A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we like a dictator.’”

“I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense,” Trump said.

He repeated threats to send National Guard troops into Chicago.

Although the topic for Trump’s event in the Oval Office was public safety, he started with a broadside against the media. He complained about unfair coverage and said there are “purposely negative stories.”

He also claimed reporters are happy with his law enforcement crackdown but “most of you won’t say that because you’re radical left.”

Trump said the media has lost its influence because he’s won elections despite negative coverage.

“Many of you are corrupt, and there’s nothing we can do about, but we keep winning.”

President Trump greeted Lee Jae Myung, the new president of South Korea, by asserting a “Purge or Revolution” was taking place there and threatening to not do business with Seoul as he prepared to host the new leader at the White House later Monday.

It wasn’t immediately clear what Trump was referring to, but South Korea had been in a state of political turmoil for the last several months after its former leader, the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol, briefly imposed martial law last December which eventually led to his stunning ouster from office.

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump posted on social media Monday morning. “I am seeing the new President today at the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”

Yoon, who was elected to a five-year term in 2022, was considered more ideologically aligned with Trump and had even taken up golfing again after the U.S. president was reelected last November to try to forge a bond with him.

▶ Read more about Trump’s relationship with South Korea

The president is scheduled to sign executive orders at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. One involves ending cashless bail, according to the White House Assistant Press Secretary. Another is designed to crack down on those who burn the American flag, which is an act protected by the First Amendment.

At noon, he’s scheduled to greet South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. The two will then participate in a bilateral meeting and a lunch, where they’re expected to discuss trade and defense issues.