China, in his words · 2024 campaign · № 98
Says China could bombard Taiwan and Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense
“I think, Taiwan should pay us for defense. You know, we're no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn't give us anything. Taiwan is 9,500 miles away. It's 68 miles away from China. A slight advantage, and China's a massive piece of land, they could just bombard it.”
- Said
- , Interview with Bloomberg Businessweek at Mar-a-Lago (published July 16, 2024)
- Subject
- Taiwan defense
- Threat
- Military threat
- Topic
- Veterans & military
- Era
- 2024 campaign
What the record showed
He was asked whether he would defend Taiwan against China. In the same answer he said China had been "very aggressive" since he left office and had "ships all over the place," and that Taiwan "took our chip business from us." NBC News reported in September 2026 that he had described a pending $14 billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan as a potential "negotiating chip" with Xi Jinping, whom he hosted for a state visit that month.