Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said Thursday, May 21, 2026, that he would be “happy” to talk to US President Donald Trump, a conversation that would mark a significant departure from more than four decades of diplomatic protocol and risk angering Beijing. The statement came after Trump told reporters on Wednesday, May 20, that he would speak to Lai as the White House weighs a new arms sales package to the democratic island. It was the second time since a summit in Beijing last week that Trump has said he would call the Taiwanese leader.
Such direct 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. The US has not had formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan since the shift, and communication has been handled through unofficial channels. Trump did speak by phone with then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in 2016, shortly after his election victory, a move that drew strong criticism from Beijing.
In a statement issued by Taiwan’s foreign ministry, 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”. He added he would be “happy to discuss these matters with President Trump”. Trump, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Beijing last week, told reporters, “I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” and added, “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem”.
The potential call comes as the US considers a $14 billion weapons purchase for Taiwan, though Acting Secretary of the US Navy Hung Cao stated on May 21 that the United States had paused the package to ensure sufficient munitions for US operations in the Middle East. In December, the Trump administration announced $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest ever US weapons package for the island. Trump suggested after his Beijing trip that arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to seize it by force. China refuses to speak to Lai and calls him a “separatist”. The PRC makes consistent statements opposing US arms sales to Taiwan and linking these sales to “independence” and “separatist” movements, despite Taiwan’s stated policy of maintaining the status quo.
Lai’s government has since been insisting that US policy on Taiwan has not changed and that Trump made no commitments to China on arms sales to the island. Taiwan relies heavily on US support to deter any potential Chinese attack, and has been under intense pressure to increase its spending through investment in American firms. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said Monday that a call between the two leaders would be positive but that it is up to Trump to take the initiative, and the two sides have not had any planning talks. Lai noted that Taiwan-US relations are “rock-solid” and cooperation programmes will continue and not change.
