In a move that could potentially unsettle U.S.-China relations, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday his intention to speak with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te. Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before boarding Air Force One, Trump expressed his willingness to address the “Taiwan problem” by engaging directly with Lai. In response, Taiwan’s foreign ministry indicated Lai’s willingness to engage in conversation with Trump.
Historically, direct communication between U.S. and Taiwanese leaders has been rare since Washington officially shifted its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. Nevertheless, Trump disrupted this longstanding norm in late 2016 when he, as president-elect, spoke with then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. That call led to diplomatic tensions, prompting China to file a complaint with the U.S. government, while Trump’s transition team attempted to minimize the incident’s significance.
China, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province, has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control. Beijing has long been upset by U.S. military support for Taiwan, designed to deter potential Chinese aggression. Trump’s recent comments about speaking with Lai come on the heels of a meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, and they have been reiterated twice within a week, suggesting a deliberate stance rather than a verbal misstep. No official call between Trump and Lai has been scheduled yet, and both the White House and China’s embassy in Washington have refrained from commenting on potential discussions.
During his presidency, Trump approved more weapons sales to Taiwan than any of his predecessors, viewing these transactions as strategic bargaining tools. He has described his relationship with Xi as “amazing,” yet after a recent trip to Beijing, he remains undecided on a significant $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which adds to the ambiguity surrounding U.S. support for the island. Meanwhile, Beijing has reportedly delayed approving a summer visit by the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby, using it as leverage in negotiations over the arms sale.
Any direct dialogue between U.S. and Taiwanese leaders would typically provoke a strong reaction from China, which insists on its sovereignty over Taiwan. However, Trump’s remarks have sent ambiguous signals to Taipei. While President Lai expressed his eagerness to speak with Trump, he emphasized that his administration is committed to maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, countering China’s military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. Lai stated that Taiwan’s democratic values should not be perceived as provocative, underscoring that no nation has the right to annex the island. Taiwan’s strategic significance is further highlighted by its status as the fourth-largest trading partner of the U.S., driven largely by its export of advanced semiconductors vital to the global economy. The U.S. remains legally obligated to provide Taiwan with defense capabilities, a position supported by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
