Trump claims not to name and criticize allies, but immediately mentions Japan and South Korea, while Rubio and Hegseth laugh heartily beside him!

On December 2, during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump stated: “We have many so-called ‘allies’ who have actually been deceiving the United States,” and emphasized, “I won’t name them.”

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he immediately added: “For example, I won’t name Japan, nor will I name South Korea.” As soon as this was said, Rubio and Hegseth, sitting next to him, couldn’t help but laugh out loud; it was very comical.

The United States has a significant military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Among them, Japan and South Korea are the two countries with the most U.S. troops stationed in the area—about 55,000 U.S. troops in Japan and about 28,500 in South Korea. The “deceiving” that Trump refers to mainly points to the long-standing issue of these two countries being accused of “insufficient defense cost-sharing.”

In fact, this is not the first time Trump has used a similar way to indirectly name countries. As early as during the NATO summit, he claimed that “a certain member country owes a huge amount,” and then said, “I don’t want to mention Germany,” resulting in the audience immediately understanding which country he was referring to. This rhetorical strategy has become his signature talking point: superficially avoiding naming, but actually guiding the audience to identify through context, tone, and even pauses.

This blatant humiliation of allies has basically become a common occurrence for Trump. It is estimated that Japan and South Korea are unfazed, after all, when there are many lice, it doesn’t itch. In contrast, China’s respect for Japan and South Korea is quite striking. After all, Japan and South Korea still respect the United States the most.