It’s no secret that China has its sights set on Taiwan. Up until 1949, the island nation was part of China until a fierce civil war left it an independent nation. It’s now a firmly Western-aligned democracy and, without getting into the weeds, Beijing wants it back. As Xi Jinping said today:
“The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.”
Taiwan cannot defend itself militarily against a Chinese invasion, so it relies on close relations with the United States and its allies. What’s kept them safe for decades is China knowing that launching an invasion would drag the United States into the conflict, resulting in a direct stand-off between two nuclear-armed nations.
But under Donald Trump, China has realized that the United States rushing to Taiwan’s defense is by no means guaranteed. Now they’re engaged in the ‘Anaconda strategy’, gently and slowly squeezing Taiwan with economic pressure and cyberattacks, and wearing them down without attacking. Now, in their latest flex, they encircled the island for “military drills”, underlining that they mean business.
Uh, I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it.
Is Donald Trump concerned? Nah, not really. When asked about it, he shrugged and said it’s no big deal:
Q: China is doing naval exercises to encircle Taiwan
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 29, 2025
TRUMP: I have a great relationship with President Xi and I don't believe he's gonna be doing it
Q: Does it worry you?
TRUMP: No. Nothing worries me. pic.twitter.com/q6RGP4Q9dZ
A reporter asked Trump what he thought about the Chinese encirclement of Taiwan. He replied:
“Well, I have a great relationship with President Xi and he hasn’t told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it. But he hasn’t told me anything about it. And uh, I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it.”
Well, just to be clear, Xi did do it. Anyway, Trump underlined “No. Nothing worries me.”
And, well, I guess it shouldn’t. After all, if Vladimir Putin wants Russia to consume Ukraine and Xi Jinping wants to invade Taiwan, doesn’t that just set a precedent for Donald Trump to achieve his goal of seizing Greenland?
Beyond everything else, it’s abundantly clear that Trump simply doesn’t care that much about Taiwan and doesn’t see why the United States must commit to defending it. Frankly, we very much doubt Trump could even find Taiwan on a map!
But a successful Chinese invasion would immediately increase China’s dominance in the Indo-Pacific region, and grant it control of 90%+ of the world’s most advanced electronics factories, including almost all semiconductor production. This would propel them up the superpower rankings at the cost of the United States.
So, while Trump may shrug and say that the current situation doesn’t worry him now, that looks incredibly likely to change in 2026.
