May 18, 2026 | The Washington Post
Trump plays a dangerous game, bargaining with Taiwan’s defense
The president’s post-China-summit comments about arms for Taipei invite trouble.
May 18, 2026 | The Washington Post
Trump plays a dangerous game, bargaining with Taiwan’s defense
The president’s post-China-summit comments about arms for Taipei invite trouble.
Excerpt
President Donald Trump is right to want to avoid war with China over Taiwan. He is wrong to think that holding back Taiwan’s weapons, or threatening to, makes war less likely.
In a Fox News interview after his trip to China, Trump said he was holding a pending $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan “in abeyance” and that approval “depends on China.” He called the package a “very good negotiating chip.”
Craig Singleton is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.