šØ TRUMP JUST FROZE $14 BILLION IN TAIWAN ARMS SALES AND CALLED IT A āBARGAINING CHIPā WITH CHINA. HERE ARE HIS EXACT WORDS. šØ
On Air Force One leaving Beijing ā Trumpās exact quotes:
āI havenāt approved it yet. It depends on China. It is a very good negotiating chip for us. Itās a lot of weapons.ā
āChina is a very, very powerful, big country. Thatās a very small island. Itās 59 miles from China. Weāre 9,500 miles away. Thatās a little bit of a difficult problem.ā
āTaiwan would be very smart to cool it a little bit.ā
āThey stole our semiconductor industry for years.ā
āIām not looking for somebody to go independent. I want them to cool down.ā
āThe last thing we need right now is a war thatās 9,500 miles away.ā
Now hereās the context:
Taiwan just signed a $250 billion US investment pledge. Built TSMC factories in Arizona. Did everything Washington asked.
A bipartisan group of US senators had written to Trump before the trip: āAmerican support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation.ā
Trump negotiated with it anyway.
Brookings Institution: āTrumpās instinct to avoid war is sound. His approach of placating Xiās preferences is dangerous.ā
Marco Rubio told NBC: US policy toward Taiwan is āunchanged.ā
Then Trump called the arms deal a bargaining chip on live television.
Taiwan produces 90% of the worldās most advanced chips.
America called it theft.
Then used their defense as leverage.
Every US ally on earth is watching this. ā
Follow for daily updates before the media catches up š
