Overview

• Hours before the summit, President Trump posted that South Korea “seems like a Purge or Revolution” and told reporters he’d heard of “very vicious raids on churches” and a search touching a U.S. base, adding he was not sure the reports were true.
• The Oval Office session was publicly cordial as Trump and President Lee Jae Myung praised ties and discussed trade, defense and North Korea after a July deal set a 15% U.S. tariff and a $350 billion South Korean investment pledge, including a $150 billion shipbuilding initiative.
• Trump said he would like to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this year and touted his personal relationship with Kim, while Lee urged a renewed push for peace on the peninsula.
• Trump said he wants the United States to obtain ownership of land hosting American bases in South Korea and pressed for higher allied contributions, while declining to detail any change to the 28,500‑troop presence.
• South Korean authorities have recently raided Sarang Jeil Church and Unification Church sites and served a warrant on the Korean side of a jointly operated base, and officials say U.S. personnel and materials were not searched as probes tied to Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial‑law bid continue.