Former U.S. President Donald Trump called South Korea a “money machine” and said the long-time U.S. ally would be paying $10 billion every year for U.S. troops stationed in Korea if he were in the White House.
The Republican presidential candidate’s remarks come two weeks after Korea and the U.S. reached a new five-year defense cost deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). Under the deal, Seoul will pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in 2026, up 8.3% from the 1.4 trillion won in 2025. Trump’s remark has sparked concerns over a potential renegotiation of defense costs if he were to be re-elected in the upcoming U.S. presidential election next month.
“If I were there now, they’d be paying us $10 billion a year, and you know what? They’d be happy to do it,” Trump said in an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago on Oct. 15. “It’s a money machine. South Korea.”
“We protect them from North Korea and others, but they [South Korea] don’t pay us anything, and I said, ‘This is crazy,’” he added. “North Korea’s very serious nuclear power - I got along with him [Kim Jong-un] very well.”
Trump also claimed that he demanded Korea pay $5 billion a year during his term. But when Korea resisted, he agreed to have them pay $2 billion first, intending to raise the amount to $5 billion the following year. “I said to South Korea, ‘You’re going to pay,’ and they agreed to do it, and Biden then cut it back. And it’s a shame.”
Shortly after the Biden administration took office in 2021, the U.S. and South Korea finalized the 11th SMA in March of that year. The deal, valid from 2020 to 2025, resulted from a year and a half of negotiations that began under the Trump administration in September 2019. Earlier this month, the two countries finalized the 12th SMA, valid until 2030, with both sides agreeing that it was better to reach the deal before the U.S. presidential election.
With only 20 days left until the election, the latest polls show that Trump is leading Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in key battleground states. Diplomats have expressed concern over Trump’s statements, fearing they reflect a distorted view of the U.S.-South Korea alliance. While some believe his rhetoric is aimed at appealing to voters, his comments throughout the campaign have revealed a perception that a “rich South Korea is free-riding on security.”
In an earlier interview with Fox Business on Oct. 4, Trump referred to South Korea as a “money machine,” stating, “We saved them during the Korean War and protected them for decades, but we got nothing in return.” He added that while Korea is an ally, it is also an “enemy” in trade matters.
However, many of Trump’s claims are exaggerated and inaccurate. Korea allocates roughly 2.5% of its GDP to defense spending, surpassing the NATO guideline of 2%. The cost of maintaining the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in Korea is shared nearly equally between Washington and Seoul.
Despite South Korean companies pledging $21.5 billion in investments in the U.S. last year—making South Korea one of the largest investors in the U.S.—Trump previously claimed, “If you vote for me, you will witness an exodus of jobs from South Korea to North Carolina.”
