US President Donald Trump has raised fresh questions over Washington’s long-standing support for Taiwan, describing the island as “a little bit of a difficult problem” because of China’s geographical and military advantage.“When you look at the odds, China is a very, very powerful, big country. That’s a very small island. Think of it; it’s 59 miles away. We’re 9,500 miles away. That’s a little bit of a difficult problem,” Trump said while speaking to Fox News about Taiwan after returning from China.Trump also criticised past US administrations over the development of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. “If you look at the history, Taiwan was developed because we had presidents that didn’t know what the hell they were doing. They stole our chip industry,” he said.The remarks came after Trump concluded a high-profile visit to China dominated by discussions on Taiwan, trade and the conflict involving Iran. Returning to the US on Friday evening, Trump described his meeting with Xi as a historic moment between “two great countries”.In an interview with Fox News after the summit, Trump said: “It’s the two great countries. I call it the G-2. I think it’ll go down as a very important moment in history.”During the trip, Trump largely avoided publicly discussing Taiwan, despite repeated warnings from Beijing over US support for the self-governing island. However, while travelling back aboard Air Force One, he acknowledged that Xi had strongly raised the issue during their meetings.“President Xi and I talked a lot about Taiwan,” Trump said, adding that the Chinese leader “does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation”.Trump suggested that China was unlikely to take military action against Taiwan while he remained in office. “I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” he said.At the same time, Trump avoided directly committing to military intervention if China attacked Taiwan, maintaining Washington’s long-standing policy of “strategic ambiguity”. He also revealed that he had not yet decided whether to move forward with a previously approved US arms package for Taipei after hearing Xi’s objections.
‘They’re crazy, and you know what? ‘ Trump on Iran
On Iran, Trump claimed progress had nearly been made on a nuclear agreement before talks broke down. “We really had the confines of a deal; no nuclear, they were going to give us the dust… and every time they’d make a deal, the next day it’s like we didn’t have that conversation,” Trump said.“They’re crazy, and you know what? Because of that, they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he added.Trump also claimed Xi agreed that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a serious threat and said the Chinese leader had shown interest in helping to find a resolution to the conflict. China has not publicly confirmed such discussions.The visit also focused heavily on trade. Trump said China could buy 200 aircraft from Boeing initially, with the possibility of hundreds more in future, although no formal agreements were immediately announced.Throughout the visit, Trump repeatedly praised Xi, calling him a “great leader” and saying the two countries would have a “fantastic future together”. China, meanwhile, described the summit as the beginning of a new phase of “strategic stability” in relations between Beijing and Washington.
