Trump economic adviser defends Taiwan phone call: 'If China doesn't like it, screw 'em'

Stephen Moore, economic adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, couldn't care less about what China thinks. In an interview on the Chicago-based Big John and Ray radio show, Moore applauded Trump's controversial phone call with Taiwan on Friday — even if it does rock the boat on U.S. relations with China. "I love the fact that Trump did that," Moore said. "Too many mamby-pamby people in the foreign policy shop are saying, 'Oh my gosh we can't do this, we might insult the Chinese.' I don't care if we insult the Chinese!"

When Trump spoke with Taiwan's president, he broke with the decades-long U.S. policy against officially recognizing Taiwan's government as an entity separate from China's governing body. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a province of the mainland. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest credited the One-China policy with "preserving peace and stability in the Strait" and argued the policy benefits both the U.S. and Taiwan — especially as China is projected to overtake the U.S. as the world's largest economy by 2018.

But Moore seemed to suggest Trump's support of Taiwan is what would really be beneficial. "Taiwan is our ally," Moore said. "That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We ought to back our ally, and if China doesn't like it, screw 'em."

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Catch the rest of Moore's interview below. Becca Stanek