White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest admitted Monday that President-elect Donald Trump's unexpected Friday phone call with the president of Taiwan has left multiple U.S. officials scrambling to do damage control. "I can confirm that U.S. officials, including senior officials of the National Security Council, have been in touch with their Chinese counterparts to reiterate our country's continued commitment to One-China policy," Earnest said, discussing the longstanding American policy against formally recognizing Taiwan as a nation independent of China. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a province of the mainland.
When Trump picked up the phone Friday, he did what no other U.S. leader has done in nearly 40 years by communicating directly with Taiwan's leader. Aside from a disruption of the status quo, Earnest suggested Trump's actions also could have jeopardized an agreement that has proved crucial to "promoting and preserving peace and stability in the Strait." "The adherence to and commitment to this policy has advanced the ability of the United States to make progress in our relationship with China," Earnest said, noting that the set-up is also beneficial to Taiwan. Earnest later added, "If the president-elect's team has a different aim, I'll leave it to them to describe."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Chief justice warns against defying Supreme CourtSpeed Read Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts noted that public officials keep threatening to ignore lawful court rulings
-
New Orleans truck attack linked to ISIS kills 15Speed Read A pickup truck drove into a crowd on New Year's Day in the French Quarter
-
Putin says Russia isn't weakened by Syria setbackSpeed Read Russia had been one of the key backers of Syria's ousted Assad regime
-
Georgia DA Fani Willis removed from Trump caseSpeed Read Willis had been prosecuting the election interference case against the president-elect
-
Democrats blame 'President Musk' for looming shutdownSpeed Read The House of Representatives rejected a spending package that would've funding the government into 2025
-
Trump, Musk sink spending bill, teeing up shutdownSpeed Read House Republicans abandoned the bill at the behest of the two men
-
Congress reaches spending deal to avert shutdownSpeed Read The bill would fund the government through March 14, 2025
-
Luigi Mangione charged with murder, terrorismSpeed Read Magnione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
