"No Need for Troop Deployment": What Is Trump Really Thinking? Relief and Anxiety in Diplomatic Circles

[Financial News] As President Trump has withdrawn his demand that allies such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), South Korea, and Japan send troops to the Strait of Hormuz, diplomatic circles are torn between a sense of relief and lingering anxiety.
Trump had repeatedly warned that he would remember allies that hesitated to dispatch troops and hinted at possible penalties. Many in South Korea fear that this could still spill over onto Seoul, which is about to enter a combined security and trade negotiation with the U.S.
According to diplomatic circles on the 18th, Trump’s true intentions behind withdrawing his troop deployment request are expected to become clearer during his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae. Prime Minister Takaichi is traveling to the U.S. for a four-day visit starting that day to hold talks with Trump.
Ahead of the U.S.-Japan summit, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Because we have achieved such great success militarily, we no longer need or want support from NATO countries. In fact, we never needed their help in the first place. The same goes for Japan, Australia, and South Korea."
If, as Trump has stated, he refrains from asking Japan—one of Washington’s closest allies—for troop contributions during the summit, it will likely mean there will be no further requests made to other allies either.
However, if troop deployment is discussed during the U.S.-Japan summit with Prime Minister Takaichi, it would suggest that Trump’s withdrawal of his request was not his true position.
In that case, South Korea, which faces a situation similar to Japan’s, could receive the same kind of bill. The government has so far maintained that it has not received any official request from Washington to send forces to the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok of South Korea also said there was no such discussion during his meeting with Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., on the 13th (local time).
Ahn Gyu-back, Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea, appeared before the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea the previous day and stated flatly, "We have not received a request for troop deployment." By contrast, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said it was "difficult to answer," taking a more ambiguous stance. Cho had a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Antonio Rubio on the 16th, during which they discussed issues related to the Strait of Hormuz.
Cho is scheduled to meet Secretary Rubio again on the sidelines of an expanded meeting of Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers to be held near Paris next week. The G7 gathering is expected to provide a final opportunity to confirm Trump’s true intentions. Invited to the expanded G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, Cho will visit France from the 25th to the 27th.

rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo Reporter