Growing up, every morning in school, my whole class would recite the Pledge of Allegiance. As a young man, I thought I was swearing loyalty to a flag, some piece of cloth. As I grew older, I realized that I was swearing loyalty to the Republic and to what that Republic stood for, as defined in the Constitution. I wasn’t swearing loyalty to Eisenhower, Kennedy, or Johnson. I was swearing loyalty to the nation and what it had stood for since the Constitution was ratified. I was swearing loyalty to do what was right.

Today, there is a lot of talk about loyalty, but most of it seems to be centered on loyalty to one man. I look at it as loyalty given and the loyalty that Trump didn’t return. Whether it is our service members or our allies, it seems Trump is not living up to the promises this nation has made. Just yesterday, I was reading about Trump saying that he has ordered the scaling back of our participation in the U.S. – ROK exercises that were supposed to be held with South Korea. South Korea has been one of our staunchest allies.

Since 1953, we have had a Mutual Defense Treaty to aid each other if attacked. They sent 300,000 troops to fight alongside our soldiers in Vietnam.  And after 9/11, they were right there, probably only second to NATO, helping us in the War on Terror. They supported us in Desert Storm, Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In Desert Storm, they supplied financial support, medical personnel, and Military support. In Afghanistan, South Korea was there with special forces, reconstruction teams, and hundreds of millions of dollars in support.  In Operation Iraqi Freedom, they were there with troops, engineers, reconstruction teams, and a major stabilization force. They supplied 3,600 troops, which was the third-largest foreign contingent after the United States and the United Kingdom.

Trump makes it sound like South Korea is not supporting us right now in the Middle East, and that just isn’t true. South Korea has become a major defense partner for Gulf States. They have a $65 billion strategic partnership with the UAE, including $35 billion in defense cooperation. Saudi Arabia has contracts with Korea and is purchasing Korean air-defense systems and missile technology. Qatar has contracts with Korea for air-defense and surveillance systems. Iraq uses Korean systems used in counter-rocket and counter-drone operations. These are not just sales. They include: technology transfer, training, joint development, and integrated defense planning. And the systems are being used right now in the active conflicts involving Iran. South Korea has deployed actual military units to the region, not just equipment. They have special forces stationed in the UAE. They are training UAE troops in counterterrorism, special operations, and base defense. They are there, and they are playing a part. They are not playing the part that Trump wants them to play, so he claims that South Korea is not helping us.

Now let's look at North Korea, Trump's trusted partner. Do you know how many times North Korea has fought alongside the United States? That number would be zero. Do you know how many times North Korea has supported a U.S. coalition? That number, again, would be zero. They have never provided troops, money, or logistics.  They have never joined a peacekeeping mission with U.S. forces. They didn’t help in Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any post 9/11 operation. North Korea is not an ally. It is a hostile state that has threatened U.S. forces in South Korea. developed nuclear weapons aimed at the United States and its allies, supported Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and other adversaries, and sold weapons to terrorist groups hostile to American interests. North Korea’s role in U.S. military operations is purely adversarial.

Trump has created a mess in Iran. He claims that he will never allow Iran to have nuclear weapons, and that is why he attacked Iran even though there was no proof that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon. In the past, we had heard Trump state that he was not going to allow a country to have nuclear weapons, and that country is North Korea. He also said that he would force North Korea to denuclearize. He then said that he would end the nuclear threat from Kim Jong Un. He stated that North Korea would “give up its nuclear weapons” because of his pressure. He also claimed that he had “solved” the North Korean nuclear problem after the Singapore summit. All these statements were made while North Korea continued developing and testing nuclear-capable missiles. Some of these missiles are now pointed at us. Of course, Trump and Kim Jung Un fell in love, so I guess that it's ok that he is pointing nuclear missiles at us. Maybe that is where the Ayatollah Khamenei went wrong. All he had to do was send Trump a love letter, and all would have been good.

I find it very strange that a man who always claimed to put “America First” and that he wanted to “Make America Great Again”  would embrace the nation that has nuclear missiles pointed at us over a nation that has continued to be there when they were needed. Is that how we gain strength? What is also stranger is the fact that North Korea is one of the biggest supporters of terrorism in the world. Trump claims that Iran supports Hamas and Hezbollah. Well guess what? So does North  Korea; plus, they also supported the Taliban with weapons used against our soldiers and continue to support African militias. And here is the real kicker. North Korea has been supporting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which we are at war with right now. They also helped Iran build missiles and drone technology that are being used against us right now and other Middle Eastern nations.

When a president praises a country like North Korea, a regime that builds and points nuclear missiles at our cities. When a president praises a country like North Korea that arms Russia, Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban while dismissing allies that have stood shoulder to shoulder with American troops in Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, and the Middle East. He doesn’t make us stronger. He weakens us and strengthens our enemies. Trump backs North Korea. North Korea backs Iran against us right now. How in the name of God is that putting America first?

If you praise the guy aiming nukes at us and push away the allies who fought beside us, you’re not defending America. You’re handing our enemies exactly what they want. Some would call that treason.