Trump falsely inflates number of US troops in S.Korea

"I've always said NATO is a paper tiger," Trump said during an April 6, 2026 press conference.

"You know who else didn't help us? South Korea didn't help us," he added before berating other non-NATO allies Australia and Japan for not assisting with the Iran war.

"We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well, as you know," Trump said, referring to the North Korean leader.

Trump mentioned the same figure during an Easter lunch event at the White House on April 1 and in remarks on March 16.

The number was repeated in Korean-language posts on YouTube, X, Facebook and Instagram, with some users speculating on what Trump's remarks could mean for US-South Korea relations.

Washington serves as a key security ally to Seoul and stations troops along with a range of air and missile defence systems in the South to help deter aggression from the nuclear-armed North.

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Screenshot of the false post captured on April 8, 2026 with a red X added by AFP

Since the war erupted in late February, Trump has repeatedly railed against several US allies, accusing them of rejecting his calls for help reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz -- through which a fifth of global crude and gas passes (archived link).

Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7, with both sides claiming victory (archived link). 

However, Trump's claim that 45,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea is not supported by official data.

Section 1255 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law by Trump on December 18, 2025, said the United States will maintain the presence of "approximately 28,500 members" of its armed forces in South Korea (archived here and here).

The federal law sets the budget and expenditures of the US Department of Defense for the 2026 fiscal year.

AFP reached out to the White House but a response was not forthcoming.

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Screenshot of the National Defense Authorization Act

The Defense Manpower Data Center -- which serves under the Office of the Secretary of Defense -- says 26,722 US military and civilian personnel were stationed in the South as of December 31, 2025 (archived link).

According to the data centre, 23,495 are active-duty members, 300 are National Guard members, and 2,927 are civilian employees. 

A US congressional research paper published in March 2026 also puts the number of troops stationed on the Korean peninsula at about 28,500. It goes on to say they have been present since the United States and South Korea signed a mutual defence treaty on October 1, 1953 -- months after the Korean War ended in an armistice (archived link). 

The latest edition of the South Korean defence ministry's white papers, published in June 2023, cites the same figure stated in the NDAA (archived link). 

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Screenshot of South Korea's 2022 Defence White Paper

Dr. Shin Beom-chul, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute and former vice minister of national defence, told AFP there is no cap on the number of US troops stationed in South Korea (archived link).

But an increase to the level mentioned by Trump "would significantly raise the cost of stationing US forces".

"It would only be feasible under extreme circumstances such as war," Shin said on April 7.

Derek Grossman, a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California, said 28,500 is the correct figure, adding he does not know "where Trump got the 45,000 number from" (archived link). 

Inflated number

The South Korean seaport city of Pyeongtaek is home to Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas US military installation in the world (archived link).

According to a US Department of Defense website, the Army garrison hosts a population of around 43,000 people and is "expected to continue to grow over the next three-to-five years to roughly 45,000 total personnel."

But that number includes not only troops but also civilians, contractors and family members (archived here, here and here). 

Both the South Korean defence ministry and the United States Forces Korea declined to comment when contacted by AFP,  citing the sensitivity of the matter as it pertains to another country's military troops.

Local broadcasters, including JTBC News, have previously fact-checked the exaggerated figure (archived link). 

More of our reporting on Trump can be found here.