U.S. President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave him a personal assurance that he wouldn’t invade Taiwan while Trump was in the White House.
Trump made the comment during an interview with Fox News‘ Special Report ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Newsweek contacted the Chinese Foreign Ministry for comment on Saturday via email.
Why It Matters
The Chinese government has long regarded Taiwan, an island democracy with about 23 million people, as a renegade province, and Xi has repeatedly said it will be “reunified” with mainland China. In June, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was an “imminent” threat that China could invade Taiwan, amid reports that Xi had set a 2027 deadline for Beijing’s sovereignty over the island to be established.
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan could spark a military response from the United States, resulting in a direct conflict between the two nuclear-armed superpowers that could have dramatic consequences across the globe.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/FLORENCE LO-POOL/GETTY
What To Know
Speaking with Fox News before his summit with Putin on Friday, Trump said: “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see.”
“He told me, ‘I will never do it as long as you’re president.’ President Xi told me that, and I said, ‘Well, I appreciate that,’ but he also said, ‘But I am very patient, and China is very patient,'” he continued.
Trump did not say when Xi made these comments to him. The two leaders had their first confirmed telephone call of Trump’s second term in June, though in April the U.S. president also said he had received a call from Xi but did not specify when.
Trump has long maintained that the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine would not have occurred if he had been president at the time.
On Friday, Putin agreed, telling reporters: “Today when President Trump [said] that if he was the president back then, there would be no war. And I’m quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that. I think that overall, me and President Trump have built a very good businesslike and trustworthy contact.”
Trump has worked to portray himself as a peacemaker, and ahead of his summit with Putin, one bookmaker gave him odds of 28.6 percent on winning the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
The meeting between Trump and Putin ended without a ceasefire being agreed, though the U.S. president said it had been “very productive” with “many points we agreed on.” Prior to the 2024 presidential election, Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office if given a second term.
At the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Taiwan remained under the control of the anti-communist Kuomintang, while mainland China fell to forces loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. Taiwan subsequently established democratic institutions, but Beijing has continued to insist it is rightfully part of China.
What People Are Saying
Chinese President Xi Jinping said in December that no one could stop the “historic trend” of Taiwan’s “reunification” with China, describing the two entities as “one and the same family.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in June: “Let me be clear: any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent. We hope not but certainly could be.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether China will use military force in an attempt to gain control over Taiwan, either via an all-out invasion or a blockade, and whether the U.S. will intervene militarily if it does.