TAIPEI (Reuters) – A former U.S. ambassador appointed by Donald Trump said Saturday he believed the former president would again support Taiwan if he wins back the White House.
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory over Taipei’s objections, received strong support from the Trump administration from 2017-2021, including through arms sales, which have continued under the Taiwan government. President Joe Biden.
Trump spoke with the Taiwanese president Tsai Ingwen in 2016, shortly after he won the election, sparking anger in Beijing — as the United States does not officially recognize Taiwan’s government — and joy in Taipei.
James Gilmore, Trump’s ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, told reporters in Taipei that Trump was not an isolationist but was trying to get US allies to take their own defense more seriously.
“I believe President Trump will support Taiwan if he becomes president. He was in his first term,” Gilmore said, when he visited Taipei to speak at Taiwanese think tank the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation.
Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, will face Biden, a Democrat, in a rematch in November’s presidential election.
Gilmore will meet Tsai during his trip, but not newly elected President Lai Ching-te, who takes office on May 20 due to scheduling issues.
He said he would report his visit to Trump and pass along any messages from Taiwan if he received them.
“I fully expect to write a memorandum and submit it to President Trump. What he does with these memos that people send him, we don’t know,” he said. “But I decided I can be helpful.”
Gilmore, the Republican governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002, added that he thought the lines of communication between Taiwan and the United States were already strong and that he did not think he needed to serve as a messenger.
The United States has democratically become Taiwan’s main international backer and arms supplier, often to the ire of China, which has increased military and political pressure against the island.
Taiwan has hosted several Republican lawmakers this year as part of bipartisan delegations visiting the island, including in February Mike Gallagher, then chairman of the House Select Committee on China.
Gallagher said during that trip that regardless of who wins the election, the US would continue to support Taiwan.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)
