President downplays military threat while Pentagon maintains concerns about potential Chinese action
President Donald Trump stated on Monday that he believes China has no intention of invading Taiwan, expressing strong confidence in his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of their upcoming meeting later this month.
When questioned about a Pentagon assessment suggesting Xi might attempt to take control of Taiwan within the next six years, Trump dismissed the concern during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,” Trump told reporters.
Regarding Xi’s ambitions toward Taiwan, Trump acknowledged the island’s importance to Beijing, saying: “Now that doesn’t mean it’s not the apple of his eye, because probably it is, but I don’t see anything happening.”
While stopping short of explicitly committing to Taiwan’s military defense, Trump emphasized America’s military superiority, noting that China understands the United States “is the strongest military power in the world by far.”
“We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi,” he added. “I think we’re going to get along very well as it pertains to Taiwan and others.”
The two leaders are scheduled to meet during an Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea later this month, marking their first face-to-face encounter since Trump began his second term.
Trump indicated his main focus involves negotiating what he called a “fair” trade agreement with China. When asked whether he might reduce American support for Taiwan as part of a deal with Xi, he declined to answer directly.
“I want to be good to China. I love my relationship with President Xi. We have a great relationship,” Trump said.
The United States officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taiwan, where nationalist forces relocated in 1949 after their defeat in the Chinese civil war. Taiwan has since developed into a thriving democracy and major technology center.
American law mandates that Washington provide Taiwan with defensive weapons, though successive administrations have maintained strategic ambiguity about whether the U.S. would intervene militarily if China attacked the island.
Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, repeatedly indicated he would deploy American forces to defend Taiwan if China launched an invasion.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.
