Trump Claims Xi Assured No Military Action on Taiwan While He’s President

Fri Dec 12 2025 18:43:44 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a recent interview, President Donald Trump stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping has assured him that Beijing will not take any military action against Taiwan while he is in office, emphasizing a message of restraint from China.

During an interview that aired on CBS's '60 Minutes', President Trump communicated that Xi Jinping assured him that there would be no movement toward unifying Taiwan with mainland China as long as he remains president. Trump added that while this issue did not arise in their recent discussions, he is confident in Xi's commitment to this assurance. The U.S. has a long-standing policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ surrounding Taiwan's defense.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (RTWNews) — In an exclusive interview with CBS’s ‘60 Minutes’, President Donald Trump revealed that he has received assurances from Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding Taiwan. Trump stated that Xi has communicated that China will refrain from taking any military action against Taiwan while he is in office.

The conversations between the two leaders, however, did not directly address the Taiwan issue; rather, they focused on the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China. Trump expressed confidence that Xi and his government recognize the potential consequences of any aggression towards Taiwan during his presidency.

“He has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘We would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump stated during the interview. This development comes amid longstanding concerns from U.S. officials regarding the potential for military confrontation over Taiwan, a self-governed island that China views as its territory.

The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act does not mandate U.S. military intervention should China attack Taiwan, but it is U.S. policy to ensure Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to deter any unilateral changes to the status quo by Beijing.

When pressed about his intentions should a conflict arise, Trump remained noncommittal, reflecting the U.S. strategy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ concerning military support for Taiwan. “You’ll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that,” Trump said, regarding potential U.S. military response.

In response to Trump's claims, Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, did not specifically address the assurances mentioned. Instead, he reaffirmed China's stance that it will not tolerate any efforts to separate Taiwan from China, stating, “The Taiwan question is China’s internal affair, and it is the core of China’s core interests.” The White House also did not clarify specifics about the alleged assurances given by Xi or other Chinese officials.

The interview was conducted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and marked his first appearance on the program following a legal settlement with CBS News earlier this year. The remaining segments of the interview are expected to be broadcasted shortly.