Donald Trump’s Taiwan remarks spark fury and concern

Former President Donald Trump‘s comments suggesting the United States should not help Taiwan in the event of an invasion from China has sparked a new wave of anger and concern on social media.

Trump, who is the leading favorite to secure the GOP nomination for president after winning the Iowa caucus on Monday, sat for an interview on Fox News‘ Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo where he was asked if, under a hypothetical second Trump presidency, the U.S. would protect Taiwan from Chinese aggression even if it meant going to war with China. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, but the Communist Party leadership has never controlled the self-ruled island in its seven decades in power in Beijing. The former president declined to give a firm answer, but did suggest discontent with Taiwan for allegedly taking semiconductor business away from the U.S.

“Taiwan did take all of our chip business,” Trump said. “We used to make all of our own chips, now they’re made in Taiwan, 90 percent of [them]…Remember this, Taiwan took, smart, brilliant, they took our business away.”

Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office via email for comment.

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, numerous users interpreted Trump’s remarks as an indication that, as president, he would not have the U.S. come to Taiwan’s aid, sparking a wave of inflamed reactions. Some questioned his claims about Taiwan’s chip business, while others accused him of hypocrisy in the face of his typical stances on China since he has opposed the nation’s global economic and political influence, and claims that he stood up to it have long been some of his key talking points.

“Trump accuses his opponents of being weak on China and then he essentially openly gives China a green light to invade Taiwan without US retaliation, if he were to be elected,” policy expert Ed Tarnowski wrote in a post. “This is not serious policymaking!”

“Absolute idiocy,” Heath Mayo, a conservative lawyer and founder of the anti-Trump nonprofit Principles First, wrote in a post. “If Trump is elected, Taiwan is gone and so is a significant chunk of our semiconductor capacity. Not only is Trump unfit for the office, he’s just plain wrong on so many things like this.”

“No-one should be surprised that Biden is more committed to Taiwan than Trump,” Jordan Schneider, creator of the China Talk newsletter and podcast, wrote.

“Sorry, Donald Trump. Taiwan did not steal the US chip business,” Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program for the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., wrote. “Taipei beware.”

In an interview with NBC News from September, Trump took a similar stance on the issue, stating that he would not say what his position on the matter would be, but also stated that sending U.S. troops to Taiwan would not be “off the table.”

While recently stating that the U.S. does not support an independent Taiwan, President Joe Biden has also recently urged China not to interfere with Taiwanese matters, most notably its recent elections. Biden has also in the past pledged U.S. support of Taiwan in the event of an invasion from China. Trump’s noncommittal response also run counter to the feelings of some in his own party, with a group of 22 GOP senators urging Biden in November to stand firm in support of Taiwan amid a visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.