Top USA Newspaper News Today (5/21/2026)
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of speaking to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, in what would be an unprecedented move for a US leader and a major departure from diplomatic norms.
US and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since 1979, when Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei.
“I’ll speak to him,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday when asked whether he would call Lai before making a decision on whether he will sign off on a major Congress-approved arms sale to the island.
“I speak to everybody. We have that situation very well in hand,” he said before boarding Air Force One, adding, “we’ll work on that Taiwan problem.”
It is not clear whether the Trump administration has moved forward with any plans for a call.
Trump’s comments on potentially speaking to Taiwan’s Lai came days after he returned from his a closely watched visit to Beijing. During that trip, China’s leader Xi Jinping warned Trump directly that Taiwan could become a “very dangerous situation” if mishandled.
China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite having never controlled it — and has long vowed to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.
Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the island.
Washington maintains robust unofficial relations with Taiwan and is bound by law under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the self-governing island with defensive weapons. A 1982 US assurance to Taiwan says Washington does not have a policy of consulting with Beijing on arms sales.
atOptions = {
'key' : '44e5ee3ea909627ce8387bc3c827b1b2',
'format' : 'iframe',
'height' : 90,
'width' : 728,
'params' : {}
};
uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/paragraph/instances/cmpf6pl8700123b6p2qlvsrmm@published" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0c0c0c; font-size: 18px; inset-inline-start: 0px; left: calc(-536px + 49vw); line-height: 32px; margin-block: 0px 24px; margin-bottom: 24px; max-width: 660px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">How the US handles its unofficial relationship with Taiwan has long been a major point for contention for Beijing, which is now watching closely whether Trump will advance a $14 billion arms deal with the island. Congress approved the deal back in January.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of speaking to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, in what would be an unprecedented move for a US leader and a major departure from diplomatic norms.
US and Taiwanese presidents have not spoken directly since 1979, when Washington shifted diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei.
“I’ll speak to him,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday when asked whether he would call Lai before making a decision on whether he will sign off on a major Congress-approved arms sale to the island.
“I speak to everybody. We have that situation very well in hand,” he said before boarding Air Force One, adding, “we’ll work on that Taiwan problem.”
It is not clear whether the Trump administration has moved forward with any plans for a call.
Trump’s comments on potentially speaking to Taiwan’s Lai came days after he returned from his a closely watched visit to Beijing. During that trip, China’s leader Xi Jinping warned Trump directly that Taiwan could become a “very dangerous situation” if mishandled.
China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite having never controlled it — and has long vowed to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.
Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China but has never officially recognized the Communist Party’s claim to the island.
Washington maintains robust unofficial relations with Taiwan and is bound by law under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the self-governing island with defensive weapons. A 1982 US assurance to Taiwan says Washington does not have a policy of consulting with Beijing on arms sales.
atOptions = { 'key' : '44e5ee3ea909627ce8387bc3c827b1b2', 'format' : 'iframe', 'height' : 90, 'width' : 728, 'params' : {} };
Post a Comment