Would be happy to talk to U.S. President Donald Trump: Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te

Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te said on Thursday (May 21, 2026) that he would be “happy” to talk to U.S. President Donald Trump, a conversation that would break more than four decades of diplomatic protocol and risk angering China.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) that he would speak to Mr. Lai, as the White House weighs arms sales to the democratic island. It was the second time since a summit in Beijing last week that Mr. Trump has said he would call the Taiwanese leader. Such communication would be the first time since Washington switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 that serving Presidents of Taiwan and the United States would speak to each other.

Taiwan would ‘welcome’ its President speaking to Trump, Taiwanese Minister says

Mr. Lai said Taiwan was “committed to maintaining the stable status quo in the Taiwan Strait” and that “China is the disruptor of peace and stability”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Mr. Lai would be “happy to discuss these matters with President Trump”, the statement said.

“I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Beijing last week. “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” he said.

Uneasy truce in Beijing as Trump and Xi discuss trade, Taiwan

After wrapping up his trip to Beijing, Mr. Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to seize it by force.

Since then, Mr. Lai’s government has been on the offensive, insisting that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed and that Mr. Trump made no commitments to China on arms sales to the island.

Taiwan relies heavily on U.S. support to deter any potential Chinese attack, and has been under intense pressure to increase its spending through investment in American firms.

In 2016, shortly after his first election victory, Mr. Trump accepted a phone call from then Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, angering Beijing and stunning diplomats, world leaders and China watchers.