
How Trump projected US power across Indo-Pacific before Xi meeting
Fox News
Nuclear testing announcement and alliance partnerships marked Trump's strategic approach to China competition ahead of the high-stakes Xi summit last week.
Roger Zakheim is the director of the Ronald Reagan Institute and former deputy assistant secretary of defense.
In the days before the summit, Trump delivered a series of moves that together amounted to a strategic message. When reporters aboard Air Force One asked about Taiwan, he replied simply, "There’s not that much to ask about it. Taiwan is Taiwan."
The remark – off-the-cuff but unmistakable in meaning – pushed back against speculation that his administration might soften on the issue in pursuit of a grand bargain with Beijing. Trump’s statement told Xi that the United States would not barter away the foundation of East Asian stability for a better trade deal. Since 1979, American policy toward Taiwan has relied on strategic ambiguity – but Trump’s phrasing underscored deterrence, not doubt.













