INTERNACIONAL
Trump’s Taiwan ‘negotiating chip’ remark sparks alarm over how far he’d shift US-China policy
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President Donald Trump suggested Friday that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan could factor into broader negotiations with China, drawing a swift response from Taiwan’s president and reigniting debate in Washington about the future of longstanding U.S. policy toward the island.
Asked by Fox News whether he would move forward with a delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, Trump replied: «I’m holding that in abeyance, and it depends on China. It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly. It’s a lot of weapons.»
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te pushed back hours later, calling U.S. arms sales «the most vital deterrent» to regional conflict and insisting Taiwan «shall never be sacrificed or traded away.»
Trump’s comments came as the administration continues to hold up a $14 billion Taiwan weapons package first approved in principle in late 2025, fueling growing debate in Washington over whether Trump is steering U.S. policy back toward a more traditional form of «strategic ambiguity» — or recasting support for Taiwan through a more openly transactional lens tied to broader negotiations with Beijing.
CHINA PROMISES ‘COUNTERMEASURES’ TO US ARMS SALE TO TAIWAN
The White House pushed back on suggestions that Trump’s remarks signaled a retreat from longstanding U.S. support for Taiwan.
A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that Trump «will make a determination in a fairly short time» regarding a new Taiwan arms package and noted the president approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan in December 2025.
The official also argued Trump’s record on Taiwan arms sales exceeded that of previous administrations, saying Trump approved more sales during his first term «than any other president in history» and more in his first year back in office than former President Joe Biden approved across his entire presidency.
President Donald Trump suggested that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan could factor into broader negotiations with China. (Ann Wang/File Photo/Reuters)
President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping listened to each other on Taiwan, but Trump stressed he did not give in to Xi’s claims of control over Taiwan, declining to assure Xi the U.S. would not defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion. (Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)
Ahead of Trump’s recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, bipartisan lawmakers warned in a letter that «American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation.»
The Taiwan issue already had emerged as one of the most sensitive flashpoints surrounding Trump’s mid-May summit with Xi in Beijing.
Following the meeting, China’s foreign ministry said Xi warned Trump that Taiwan remained the «most important issue» in U.S.–China relations and cautioned that mishandling it could lead to «clashes and even conflicts» between the two powers.
The White House later downplayed the exchange, with a senior administration official telling Fox News Digital both sides had simply reiterated their longstanding positions on Taiwan.
For decades, U.S. policy toward Taiwan has rested on a posture of «strategic ambiguity» — supporting Taiwan’s self-defense while avoiding an explicit commitment to militarily defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack.
Trump’s comments prompted competing reactions among foreign policy analysts, with some China hawks warning that treating Taiwan arms sales as negotiable could weaken deterrence and unsettle U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, while others argued the remarks reflected a return to a more traditional interpretation of strategic ambiguity after years of increasingly explicit U.S. signaling toward Taiwan.
TAIWAN RAMPS UP COAST GUARD AND MILITARY READINESS IN FACE OF BEIJING’S ‘GRAY ZONE’ WARFARE
«Trading Taiwan’s security for rhetoric from Beijing would be a strategic blunder of historic proportions,» said retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. «If the president does not proceed with the arms sale to Taiwan, he will jeopardize U.S.–Taiwan relations and weaken U.S. credibility globally.»
Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund think tank, argued Trump’s comments blurred an important distinction at the center of longstanding U.S. Taiwan policy.
«Strategic ambiguity has nothing to do with providing arms to Taiwan,» Glaser told Fox News Digital. It only refers to whether the U.S. will defend Taiwan if attacked, she said.
«The Taiwan Relations Act requires that the United States sell defensive arms to Taiwan. No president has ever said that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are a useful bargaining chip.»
But some foreign policy analysts argued Trump’s comments reflected a deliberate effort to re-center U.S. policy around American priorities.
TRUMP LEAVES CHINA WITH BREAKTHROUGHS — AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS ON XI’S BIGGEST FIGHTS
«Trump has shaken up the Taiwan debate in Washington to a large extent,» Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia engagement at Defense Priorities, told Fox News Digital.
The Taiwan issue had already emerged as one of the most sensitive flashpoints surrounding Trump’s mid-May summit with Xi in Beijing. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Goldstein argued Trump’s comments reflected a return to a more restrained interpretation of «strategic ambiguity» after years of increasingly explicit U.S. signaling toward Taiwan under the Biden administration.
«Overall, his approach has been to return U.S. policy to ‘strategic ambiguity,’ especially in contrast to the Biden administration, which was lurching dangerously toward ‘strategic clarity,’ that threatened to spark a near-term U.S.–China war,» Goldstein said.
During his presidency, former President Joe Biden repeatedly suggested the United States would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack — comments critics said pushed Washington closer toward «strategic clarity,» even as White House officials maintained there had been no formal policy change.
Critics argued Biden’s remarks heightened tensions with Beijing, while supporters said the comments strengthened deterrence against potential Chinese aggression.
Goldstein argued Trump’s willingness to openly discuss Taiwan arms sales in the context of broader U.S.–China negotiations reflects a more restrained approach aimed at preserving stability between Washington and Beijing.
«Indeed, with these fresh comments Trump recognizes that both sides are responsible for maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait,» Goldstein said. «He even went so far as to sternly admonish the leadership in Taipei for unnecessary risk-taking.»
Trump has long taken a more transactional approach toward Taiwan than many traditional U.S. foreign policy hawks, previously arguing the island should pay the United States for its defense and accusing Taiwan of «stealing» America’s semiconductor industry.
He has also repeatedly framed Taiwan through the lens of semiconductor competition and supply-chain dependence, arguing the United States should reclaim a larger share of advanced chip manufacturing.
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«Trump’s new reflections on Taiwan illustrate an informed approach that recognizes the basic and fundamental truth that Taiwan is not a vital U.S. national security interest and that the U.S.-China relationship far outweighs the U.S.-Taiwan relationship in importance,» Goldstein added.
The central question now facing lawmakers and U.S. allies is whether Trump’s rhetoric will ultimately affect the timing or conditions surrounding the pending Taiwan weapons package — a test many analysts see as critical to understanding how the administration intends to approach Taiwan going forward.
defense, national security, taiwan, foreign policy senate, xi jinping
INTERNACIONAL
Durante su reunión en Beijing, Xi Jinping le dijo a Donald Trump que Vladimir Putin podría “arrepentirse” la invasión de Ucrania
El líder de China, Xi Jinping, le dijo al mandatario estadounidense, Donald Trump, durante su reunión de la semana pasada en Beijing que el presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, podría terminar arrepintiéndose de haber invadido Ucrania, según reveló el diario británico Financial Times a partir de fuentes familiarizadas con la evaluación estadounidense de la cumbre.
De acuerdo con el medio, la conversación formó parte de un intercambio más amplio sobre la guerra en Ucrania y otros asuntos internacionales. El medio también sostuvo que Trump planteó durante el encuentro que Estados Unidos, China y Rusia podrían cooperar contra la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI), al considerar que sus intereses están alineados frente al tribunal.
Según Financial Times, los comentarios atribuidos a Xi representaron un tono más crítico hacia Putin que en ocasiones anteriores. Una persona con conocimiento de reuniones previas entre Xi y el entonces presidente estadounidense, Joe Biden, afirmó al diario que ambos líderes mantuvieron conversaciones “francas y directas” sobre Rusia y Ucrania, aunque Xi nunca había expresado antes una evaluación personal sobre Putin y la guerra.
La información trascendió en la antesala de la llegada de Putin a China para una nueva cumbre con Xi. El mandatario ruso arribará este martes a Beijing, apenas cuatro días después del encuentro entre el líder chino y Trump, en la segunda reunión entre ambos desde el regreso del republicano a la Casa Blanca.
Putin lanzó la invasión a Ucrania en febrero de 2022, tres semanas después de viajar a China y anunciar junto a Xi una asociación “sin límites” entre ambos países. La visita de esta semana también coincide con el 25° aniversario del tratado de amistad sino-ruso firmado por el entonces líder chino, Jiang Zemin, y Putin.
Financial Times señaló que la embajada china en Washington no respondió a los pedidos de comentarios sobre las conversaciones entre Xi y Trump. La Casa Blanca tampoco realizó declaraciones oficiales sobre el contenido del diálogo. El gobierno estadounidense publicó el domingo una hoja informativa sobre la cumbre en Beijing, aunque el documento no incluyó referencias a Putin ni a la guerra en Ucrania.
El diario británico también indicó que, durante las conversaciones, Trump propuso que Estados Unidos, China y Rusia coordinen posiciones contra la CPI. Las fuentes consultadas por el medio señalaron que el mandatario estadounidense sostuvo que los tres países comparten intereses frente al tribunal internacional.
La Casa Blanca evitó pronunciarse sobre esa afirmación. Sin embargo, la administración Trump ya manifestó en otras ocasiones su rechazo a la CPI, a la que acusa de “politización”, “abuso de poder”, “desprecio por la soberanía nacional estadounidense” y “extralimitación judicial ilegítima”. Funcionarios estadounidenses también describieron al organismo como un instrumento de “lawfare” contra Estados Unidos.
Las declaraciones de Xi se conocieron en un momento en que la guerra en Ucrania atraviesa una etapa de estancamiento tras cuatro años de conflicto. En paralelo, Ucrania incrementó la eficacia de sus ataques con drones contra objetivos militares rusos.
La administración Biden acusó repetidamente a China de suministrar a Rusia bienes de uso dual que ayudaron a sostener la campaña militar en Ucrania. El gobierno de Trump también expresó preocupación por ese respaldo, aunque con menor frecuencia.
El congresista demócrata estadounidense Brendan Boyle, integrante de la delegación estadounidense ante la asamblea parlamentaria de la OTAN, destacó el impacto de la guerra con drones en el conflicto. “Los valientes ucranianos (…) reinventaron la guerra de la misma manera en que la Primera Guerra Mundial reinventó la guerra para el siglo XXI”, declaró. “La guerra con drones ahora se convirtió en la norma y está revolucionando la forma en que libramos guerras”, agregó.
El domingo, Ucrania lanzó ataques con drones contra objetivos cercanos a Moscú. El presidente ucraniano, Volodimir Zelensky, sostuvo que las operaciones eran “completamente justificadas” después de que Rusia ejecutara la semana pasada el mayor ataque aéreo contra Kiev desde el inicio de la guerra.
Los bombardeos ocurrieron después de una tregua de tres días negociada por Trump, que permitió a Putin celebrar el desfile anual por el Día de la Victoria sin riesgo de ataques ucranianos con drones sobre territorio ruso.
Asia / Pacific
INTERNACIONAL
American tourists arrested in Japan after alleged break-in at viral monkey Punch’s enclosure
Punch the monkey makes new friends after bullying video goes viral
This video shows Punch, a young macaque in Japan who has gone viral, seeking physical contact not from his stuffed toy, but from another monkey, eventually climbing onto its back for a vital social behavior for young macaques known as the «piggyback ride.» Punch gained fame after his birth last year and his abandonment by his mother.
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Two American nationals were reportedly arrested in Japan on Sunday after one allegedly entered the enclosure of Punch, the young macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo who became famous online for his inseparable bond with a stuffed orangutan toy.
Videos circulating online appear to show a person dressed in an emoji costume climbing over a barrier into the Japanese macaque enclosure before dropping a small stuffed toy near the animals, startling them and causing them to retreat, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The suspects were identified as a 24-year-old college student and a 27-year-old self-described singer, AFP reported.
PUNCH THE MONKEY, VIRAL STAR, EXPERIENCES DRAMATIC BREAKTHROUGH AMONG ZOO MATES
This photo taken on Feb. 19, 2026 shows Punch sitting with his stuffed orangutan toy at Ichikawa City Zoo. (JIJI PRESS / AFP via Getty Images)
Zoo staff quickly intervened, and authorities said neither suspect made physical contact with the monkeys, according to AFP.
Ichikawa Police told AFP the two men were arrested on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business.
One suspect was not cooperating with police, while the other denied the allegations, according to reports citing NHK.
In a statement posted to X on May 17, Ichikawa City Zoo confirmed the pair had been turned over to police and said safety inspections were conducted afterward.
ORPHANED BABY MONKEY FINDS COMFORT IN STUFFED ANIMAL AFTER BEING ABANDONED BY MOTHER AT BIRTH
Punch is seen with his stuffed animal on Feb. 20, 2026. (Photo by David Mareuil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Officials added that no animals were injured during the incident.
«Around 10:50 today, there was an intruder in Saruyama,» the zoo wrote. «We are informing you that the two individuals, including the intruder in question, have been handed over to the police.»
The zoo also announced temporary viewing-area closures and enhanced security measures while operations continued as scheduled.
SEVERAL MONKEYS STILL ON THE LOOSE IN ST LOUIS AS OFFICIALS CALL OFF SEARCH FOR ROAMING ANIMALS
Punch became a viral sensation earlier this year after zoo staff gave him a stuffed orangutan toy for comfort. (@20230605x_x via Storyful)
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The monkey had been abandoned by his mother shortly after birth in July 2025, prompting zookeepers to hand-raise him.
Fox News Digital’s Khloe Quill contributed to this report.
travel, world, primates, japan, crime world, police and law enforcement, wild nature
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