US President Donald Trump says he will talk to Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te about a possible arms sale, in what would be a sharp departure from diplomatic tradition.
US and Taiwanese leaders have not spoken directly since 1979 – when Washington severed formal ties with Taiwan to recognise the Beijing government.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force. Lai, who took office in 2024, is behind one of the strongest pushes in years to strengthen the island’s defence.
The US has long supported Taiwan and is bound by law to provide it with a means of self-defence, but has had to balance this with maintaining a diplomatic relationship with China.
He also hailed his relationship with China’s President Xi as “amazing”, on the back of a two-day summit in Beijing last week.
In 1979, the US passed the Taiwan Relations Act which states that the US can “provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character” – which is why it continues to sell weapons to Taiwan.
Trump has said he has yet to decide if the sale of a $14bn (£10.4bn) arms package to Taiwan, reportedly including anti-drone equipment and air-defence missile systems, will go ahead.
According to a report by the Financial Times, Beijing is currently holding up a proposed visit by the Pentagon’s top policy official, Elbridge Colby – saying it cannot approve a visit until Trump decides how he will proceed with the arms deal.
Last week, while flying back from Beijing on Air Force One after his meeting with President Xi, Trump was similarly asked about weapons sales to Taiwan, to which he said he would “make a determination over the next fairly short period”.
“I have to speak to the person that right now is, you know who he is, that’s running Taiwan,” he said.
During Trump’s visit to Beijing, China had made it clear that Taiwan was one of the biggest issues in its relationship with the US, with Xi warning of “conflict” between the two superpowers if handled poorly.
And while Trump dismissed the potential for conflict between the US and China over the island, he said Xi felt “very strongly” about Taiwan. “I made no commitment either way,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One last week.
Since the Trump-Xi meeting, Lai has issued statements saying that the island is a “sovereign, independent democratic country” and that peace in the Taiwan Strait will not be “sacrificed or traded away”.
Lai has also emphasised that US arms sales were a “key factor in maintaining regional peace and stability”.
This is not the first time Trump had broken with tradition. In 2016, he spoke to then leader Tsai Ing-wen, when he was president-elect. China later lodged a complaint with the US over the call.
Trump also said he had discussed the arms sales “in great detail” with Xi – another surprising break from US policy if true.
In 1982 the US assured Taiwan that it would not consult Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan. But when asked about that commitment as he flew back from Beijing, Trump said the 1980s was a “long way”.
Last December, the US approved a $11bn (£8.2bn) arms sale to Taiwan – one of the largest ever – which drew ire from Beijing.
Taiwan has under President Lai signficantly ramped up its defence spending to counter growing military pressure from China.
Many Taiwanese consider themselves to be part of a separate nation – though most are in favour of maintaining the status quo in which Taiwan neither declares independence from China nor unites with it.
