U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would have a direct conversation with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te as he makes a final decision on approving U.S. companies to sell billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Taiwan.
“I’ll speak to him,” Trump told reporters on May 20 when asked whether he would call Taiwan’s leader before deciding on Taiwan arms sales.
“I speak to everybody. We have that situation very well in hand,” he said. “We’ll work on that—the Taiwan problem.”
A call between the U.S. and Taiwanese presidents would be significant, given that such direct engagement is rare. The last known exception was in December 2016, when Trump accepted a call from then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen after his first electoral victory. Trump is believed to be the first U.S. president or president-elect to speak directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing….
Trump Says He Will Speak Directly With Taiwanese President as US Considers Arms Sales
