U.S. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan denied reports that the Pentagon will ask allies to pay the full cost of stationing U.S. forces on their soil, plus 50 percent more.

Shanahan was asked about the Trump administration's so-called "cost plus 50" formula during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

The acting Pentagon chief said the U.S. wouldn’t seek cost plus 50, calling the related media reports "erroneous."

He said U.S. partners should pay their "fair share" when they can, but that no such business-like formula was in place.

The Washington Post and other media outlets recently reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing the formula as a basis for allies such as Germany and Japan to compensate Washington for U.S. troops based in their countries.