The U.S. Empire Is Running Out of Resources — China Saw This Coming | Silk and Steel

**Rachel Blevins** (0:00)
It is August 17th, 2026, and it's just before 7pm local time here in Texas, as Trump has decided that he is going to punish South Korea by drastically reducing the US involvement in joint military exercises. Now, why is he doing this? Because if you read Trump's post on True Social, you may think that it really is because he's such good friends with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that he doesn't want to send the wrong message. But then you get to the bottom of the post, the part where he mentions that South Korea told him no, that they didn't get involved with his war on Iran.
Then we see, as we usually do, what is going to become Trump's attempted revenge as he tries to go after all of the countries that didn't help him out with his illegal war of aggression against Iran, but that also aren't listening when the US tells them not to trade with Iran or Russia. We're seeing a lot of talk about secondary sanctions and about attempts by the US to make everyone suffer. But what is the US going to do when the rest of the world moves on without them? Well, we got into all of that and more with a special guest earlier, so let's take a listen to that conversation now. Joining me now to discuss is Carl Zha, a geopolitical analyst and host of the Silk and Steel Podcast. Carl, thanks so much for taking the time to join me.

**Carl Zha** (1:29)
Hey, Rachel, thank you for inviting.

**Rachel Blevins** (1:31)
Yeah, I'm glad to get a chance to talk to you again. Now, I want to get your take on the latest here because I know that Trump is continuing both the war against Iran and this pivot away from Asia. He announced in a post on True Social that the US will substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. Now, in this post, he says that the exercises are costly, that they send the wrong message to North Korea, with whom he has a very good relationship, and he's not happy with the fact that South Korea refused to join him in the denuclearization of Iran, as he called it. What do you make of Trump's messaging here, and does this show just how desperate the US military is, given its increasing lack of resources?

**Carl Zha** (2:20)
Yeah, this has nothing to do with North Korea. This has everything to do with punishing South Korea for refusing to join in on his little war against Iran. And you're right, they're desperate. I mean, if United States Navy cannot open the Strait of Hormuz, what's a couple of ships from Europe or Korea would do? I mean, South Korea understands this, and South Korea also, like many East Asian countries, depend on their energy supply coming from Persian Gulf, which by the way, the Strait of Hormuz was open before the war. Trump's little war is creating tremendous amount of economic hardship for the countries of Asia. And South Korea just don't see this as their war. And it's not Trump being Trump, he's just been pity. He thought, okay, this is my opportunity to get back at South Korea by refusing to do this joint exercise. But you know what, this, ironically, this actually puts damage on the US imperial system because the US empire depends on these joint exercises with its so-called partners by really vassal states to continue to operate. In fact, in terms of US-Korea relationship is concerned, it's specified during a time of war, United States will assume the joint command of the US and Korean military army. So you, Korean military would be answerable to a US general if a hostility were to break out between, say, North Korea. This is why the Pentagon has insisted these exercises are very important.
You make sure the two sides maintain the interoperability where all the equipment will work together, the units will work together. But Trump is being a petulant child about this.
Ironically, he's the one that's dismantling the US empire at the moment.

**Rachel Blevins** (4:29)
Yeah, it's crazy to watch it exactly as you said there, for him to come out and be like, oh, well, I'm just such good friends with Kim Jong Un that I don't want to send the wrong message. I'm like, send the wrong message, as if Trump, which he probably hasn't read a history book a day in his life, he needs a bit of a refresher there, but the US is not exactly friends with North Korea, no matter what Trump may want to say or think about it. And I did think it was interesting, you know, speaking of the US taking its eye off of Asia, the US military just pulled its last aircraft carrier out of the region, as we have the USS George Washington being sent from the Pacific to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East. And the Lincoln has been at sea for over 250 days. There have been increasing reports of major issues that include a lack of food, broken down plumbing on board, and multiple sailors jumping off the ship. I know that this is symbolic, but it's also a very real picture of the current stage of the dying US Empire. How do you see the latest updates, and what do they tell us about the reality of the US military and the position it's in?