Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday (May 21, 2026) that he would be “happy” to talk to U.S. leader Donald Trump, a conversation that would break more than four decades of diplomatic protocol and risk angering China.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) that he would speak to Mr. Lai, as the White House weighs arms sales to the democratic island. It was the second time since a summit in Beijing last week that Mr. Trump has said he would call the Taiwanese leader. Such 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.

Taiwan would ‘welcome’ its President speaking to Trump, Taiwanese Minister says

Mr. 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”, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Mr. Lai would be “happy to discuss these matters with President Trump”, the statement said.

“I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he had a great meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Beijing last week. “We’ll work on that, the Taiwan problem,” he said.

Uneasy truce in Beijing as Trump and Xi discuss trade, Taiwan

After wrapping up his trip to Beijing, Mr. Trump suggested arms sales to Taiwan could be used as a bargaining chip with China, which claims the island is part of its territory and has threatened to seize it by force.

Since then, Mr. Lai’s government has been on the offensive, insisting that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed and that Mr. Trump made no commitments to China on arms sales to the island.

Taiwan relies heavily on U.S. support to deter any potential Chinese attack, and has been under intense pressure to increase its spending through investment in American firms.

In 2016, shortly after his first election victory, Mr. Trump accepted a phone call from then Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, angering Beijing and stunning diplomats, world leaders and China watchers.

Taiwan’s Parliament on Friday (March 13, 2026) authorised the ‌government to sign U.S. agreements for four arms sales packages, ​after officials warned that Taipei would go to the back ⁠of the line if it missed the deadline. The back and forth on Taiwan’s defence spending has provoked concern in the United States, as it is the ‌most important international backer and arms supplier of the Chinese-claimed island, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties.

President Lai Ching-te’s government ‌has tried to get parliament to pass $40 billion in extra defence ‌spending ⁠but the opposition, which controls the most seats, says the ⁠proposals are unclear, and it cannot be expected to pass “blank cheques” despite supporting defence.

Both opposition parties have come up with their own, less expensive proposals, but the defence ministry has said ​the letters of offer and acceptance ‌for the weapons with the United States have to be signed or Taiwan would lose its place in the production and delivery queue.

After lawmakers from both sides agreed on Thursday (March 12, 2026) that the government could still ‌sign the agreements in advance, even if the reviews of ​the spending proposals are not approved in time, parliament formally gave its legal authorisation.

The authorisation was passed unanimously and announced ⁠by parliament speaker Han Kuo-yu.

“This body upholds the principle of placing national security first and firmly defending territorial integrity,” Han said, reading out the wording of ‌the resolution.

Once the government signs the letters it should submit to parliament for revenue a “complete report on the delivery schedule for the relevant weapons”, he added.

The weapons to be signed for include TOW anti-tank missiles, M109A7 self-propelled howitzers, Lockheed Martin-made Javelin missiles and the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system.

Wang Ting-yu, a lawmaker for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who sits ‌on parliament’s defence committee, welcomed the move.

“The advance authorisation to sign before the budget ​is reviewed is intended to ensure that Taiwan’s acquisition of these important systems is not delayed or cancelled,” he wrote on his ⁠Facebook page.

On Tuesday (March 10, 2026), Defence Minister Wellington Koo told reporters the letters of offer ⁠and acceptance for 82 HIMARS systems the U.S. announced as part of an $11-billion arms sale package for Taiwan would expire on March ‌26.

Sunday (March 15, 2026) is the deadline to sign for the other weapons systems, the Ministry says.

The Trump administration has pressed allies to increase defence spending, ​a plank Lai and his government have enthusiastically embraced. 

Taiwan’s ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island’s president said on Thursday (February 5, 2026), hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone about topics that included the self-ruled island’s future.

“The Taiwan-U.S. relationship is rock solid, and all cooperation projects will continue uninterrupted,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told reporters during a visit to textile merchants in western Taiwan.

The comments came after Mr. Xi, in his first call with Mr. Trump since November, warned the U.S. President to be “prudent” about supplying arms to the self-ruled island, according to a readout of their call provided by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy that China claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing prohibits all countries it has diplomatic relations with — including the U.S. — from having formal ties with Taipei.

Still, while the U.S. doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as a country, it is the island’s strongest informal backer and arms supplier.

In December, the U.S. State Department announced its largest-ever arms sales package to Taiwan, valued at more than $11.1 billion and including missiles, artillery systems and drones. The package is yet to be approved by Congress.

China reacted angrily to the proposed arms sales, conducting two days of military drills around the island in late December, for which it dispatched air, navy and missile units.

The arms sales are also facing pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population, along with a proposed increase of defence spending to 3.3% of Taiwan’s gross domestic product.

Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has blocked Mr. Lai’s budget plan, including a $40 billion special defence budget, proposing instead a much smaller defence spending plan.

Mr. Trump said the call with Mr. Xi was “excellent” and “thorough” in a post late on Wednesday (February 4) on Truth Social.

He added that he is looking forward to a trip to China in April that will be the first of his current term in office.

Mr. Trump also said China is considering buying 20 million tons of U.S. soybeans in the current season, up from 12 million tons in the previous season.