President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to speak with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in the first dialogue between the presidents of the U.S. and Taiwan since 1979, Reuters reported.
Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that he would call Lai, according to Reuters. The call comes as the U.S. government discusses the sale of a new arms package to the island nation of Taiwan.
“Well, I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump said at Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One according to Reuters. “We have that situation very well in hand. We had a great meeting with President Xi. It was amazing, actually. It was amazing.”
‘The Taiwan Problem’
Trump referred to Taiwan as “the Taiwan problem” when speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Reuters reported.
“Nothing’s changed. I will say this: I’m not looking to have somebody go independent,” Trump said in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News. “And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down.”
“As President Trump said, he will make a determination in a fairly short time regarding a new Taiwan arms package,” a White House official told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The President approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan in December 2025, consistent with U.S. policy since the 1950s.”
China has stated many times in press briefings that there is only one China, denouncing Taiwanese independence.
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a press conference on Monday. “It is never a country, not in the past, and never in the future. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. To seek ‘Taiwan independence’ by soliciting external support is a dead end.”
“In his first term, President Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan than any other President in history,” a White House official told the DCNF. “In his second term, President Trump approved more in his first year than all four years under President Biden.”
The Taiwan Relations Act, passed in 1979, governs unofficial U.S.-Taiwan relations and requires the U.S. to make defense articles and services available for Taiwan’s self-defense.
“The United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” according to Section 3301 of the Implementation of United States policy with regard to Taiwan.
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