North Korea’s state media on Friday stepped up a personal attack on former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for slandering its leader, calling the Democratic presidential candidate “a rabid dog” that needed to be put down, Reuters reports.

Misspelling Biden’s name, KCNA said the former vice president was showing signs of “the final stage of dementia” and the “time has come for him to depart his life.”

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told CNN that Rudy Guiliani’s role in the Ukrainian policy should have been made clearer.

Said Haley: “I think it could have been handled better… I think they should have named him the special envoy so that everyone within the administration knew what his role was.”

President Trump “is demanding that South Korea pay roughly 500% more in 2020 to cover the cost of keeping US troops on the peninsula,” CNN reports.

“The price hike has frustrated Pentagon officials and deeply concerned Republican and Democratic lawmakers, according to military officials and congressional aides. It has angered and unnerved Seoul, where leaders are questioning US commitment to their alliance and wondering whether Trump will pull US forces if they don’t pay up.”

Jonathan Swan: “An Oval Office meeting yesterday with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took a dark turn when Erdoğan pulled out his iPad and made the group watch a propaganda video that depicted Kurds as terrorists, according to three sources familiar with the meeting.”

“The meeting hosted by President Trump included five Republican U.S. senators who’ve been among the most vocal critics of Turkey’s recent invasion of Syria and attacks on the U.S.’s Kurdish allies in the fight against ISIS.”

“Erdoğan apparently thought he could sway these senators by forcing them to watch a clunky propaganda film.”

“You’re doing a fantastic job for the people of Turkey.”

— President Trump, while shaking hands with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prepares for Wednesday’s White House meeting with President Trump, he’s threatening to further inflame tensions between Washington and Ankara by purchasing Russian military fighter jets, NBC News reports.

“The possibility of Turkey, a NATO ally, acquiring more military equipment from Putin adds a new dimension to the controversy around Trump’s decision to give Erdogan the prestigious platform of a White House meeting.”

Carl Bernstein in an email to CNN: “Remarkable information related to Russia and Putin and Trump’s deference to Putin — whether witting, unwitting or half-witting — continues to be revealed. Turkey’s Syrian adventure-invasion with Trump’s permission; his disdain for Ukraine through his whole presidency; and serving Russia’s interest there (as opposed to established US policy) suggest more reporting again is called for.”

First Read: The impeachment inquiry has been all about Ukraine, but what about Russia?

“A small group of Republican senators who traditionally focus on foreign policy issues have been invited to the White House for a meeting with President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch,” CNN reports.

“There’s been limited information given to the Hill on what this is all about… It was being framed as an opportunity to ‘clear the air’ and have a serious and frank discussion about the real fissures in the relationship, which also includes US outrage over Turkey’s purchase of Russian weapons systems… But the source also acknowledged the meeting is very irregular and nobody is sure what to expect.”

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump will meet as relations between the two NATO allies are at their lowest point in decades, with Turkey rebuffing the U.S. and turning toward Russia on security issues and Ankara facing a Washington backlash over attacks on Kurdish civilians during its incursion into Syria last month,” the AP reports.

“Erdogan and Trump have a difficult agenda Wednesday that includes Turkey’s decision to buy a Russian air defense system and its attack on U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Their scheduled afternoon news conference, however, will give Trump a stage to counter the first public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry.”

Washington Post: “One of the men, Lev Parnas, has described to associates that he and his business partner, Igor Fruman, told Trump at the dinner that they thought the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was unfriendly to the president and his interests.”

“According to Parnas, the president reacted strongly to the news: Trump immediately suggested that then-Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who had been in the Foreign Service for 32 years and served under Democratic and Republican presidents, should be fired, people familiar with his account said.”

If you’re feeling lousy about the state of politics in the United States, now might be the time to surround yourself with some Brits. As they surely must ask about us: What in the world is going on over there?

Chris Riback speaks with Fintan O’Toole, author of The Politics of Pain: Postwar England and the Rise of Nationalism.

Former national security adviser John Bolton derided President Trump’s daughter and son-in-law during a private speech last week and suggested his former boss’ approach to U.S. policy on Turkey is motivated by personal or financial interests, NBC News reports.

“Bolton said he believes there is a personal or business relationship dictating Trump’s position on Turkey because none of his advisers are aligned with him on the issue.”

“Bolton also questioned the merits of Trump applying his business acumen to foreign policy, saying such issues can’t be approached like the win-or-lose edict that drives real estate deals: When one doesn’t work, you move on to the next.”

“I think it’s never a good practice for us to ask a foreign country to investigate an American. It’s just not a good practice. Having said that, there’s no insistence on that call. There are no demands on that call. It is a conversation between two Presidents that’s casual in nature.”

— Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, in an interview on the Today Show.

“Behind President Trump’s accommodating attitude toward Turkey is an unusual back channel: a trio of sons-in-law who married into power and now play key roles in connecting Ankara with Washington,” the New York Times reports.

“One, Turkey’s finance minister, is the son-in-law of its strongman president and oversees his country’s relationship with the United States.”

“Another is the son-in-law of a Turkish tycoon and became a business partner to the Trump Organization. Now he advocates for Turkey with the Trump administration.”

“And the third is Jared Kushner, who as the son-in-law of and senior adviser to Mr. Trump has a vague if expansive foreign policy portfolio.”

“President Trump is expected to announce this week that he is putting off a decision on whether to impose tariffs on European Union autos for another six months,” Politico reports.

“That would avoid a new bruising dispute with one of the United States’ biggest trading partners, just as Trump is trying to put out another trade fire by striking an initial deal with China. But it would also set the stage for Trump to revisit the controversial trade issue in the throes of next year’s presidential campaign.”