US denies seeking 20% troop funding boost from S Korea

Bloomberg

The US denied a report that it’s demanding South Korea pay as much as 20% more to host American troops, as funding talks between the two nations continue.
The 10%-20% figure referred to in Korean media is “ungrounded speculation,” a Trump administration official said by email. US negotiators will seek a “fair and equitable” outcome at the next round of talks in early January, the official said.
Last month, US negotiators walked out of a meeting on troop funding in Seoul after South Korea balked at a $5 billion price tag for hosting US troops — a fivefold increase. Citing a diplomatic source it didn’t identify, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this week that the White House had dropped that demand after receiving assurances Seoul would purchase more American weapons.
The increase may now be about 10%-20% above the current level of nearly $1 billion, the newspaper said. The deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement, technically expires at the end of this year.
But both sides are likely to agree to some sort of temporary extension as they negotiate, allowing for the continued operations of about 28,500 US military personnel on the peninsula.
The talks with South Korea could affect other countries that host US troops, as the Trump administration is seeking funding increases from other American allies.
Biden says he won’t testify at Trump Trial
Meanwhile, Former Vice President Joe Biden again said that he would refuse to testify in President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, even if subpoenaed.
In an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board, Biden said any testimony would just distract from the charges that Trump abused the power of the presidency by pressuring Ukraine to smear him and obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
“What are you going to cover?” he told the influential Iowa newspaper’s editor. “You guys are going to cover for three weeks anything that I said. And (Trump’s) going to get away. You guys buy into it all the time. Not a joke.”Biden said earlier this month that he would not testify, saying it would allow lawmakers to “take their eye off the ball” instead of focusing on Trump’s actions. For now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he would prefer a trial with no witnesses, though Trump and some of his Republican allies have floated calling Biden and his son Hunter to testify.
Warren Fundraising Dips
Only a little more than a week after Senator Elizabeth Warren boasted about her grassroots fundraising at a Democratic debate, her campaign admitted it is falling short. In an email to supporters, the Warren campaign said it has raised less money than in the previous quarter.“So far this quarter, we’ve raised a little over $17 million. That’s a good chunk behind where we were at this time last quarter,” the email says. If that holds, it would be about a 30% drop from her third-quarter total of roughly $25 million.
Campaigns frequently send these kinds of last-minute appeals just before the Federal Election Commission reporting deadlines. In this case, Tuesday will be the deadline for both the fourth quarter and the annual campaign finance reports.