President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the United States Coast Guard Academy's graduation ceremony in New London, Connecticut on Wednesday, the same day that he told reporters that he would speak with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about a stalled arms deal. Photo by Angelina Katsanis/UPI | License Photo
May 21 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump has said he will speak with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te about a stalled $14 billion arms deal, a call that would be precedent-setting for a sitting U.S. president and likely anger China.
"I'll speak to him," Trump said Thursday from the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
The president was responding to a reporter's question on whether he planned to call Lai before making a final decision on the Congress-cleared weapons deal, the future of which remains uncertain following Trump's visit last week to Beijing for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Taiwan has requested the weapons package as it faces an aggressive China, which claims sovereignty over the self-governing island it views as a breakaway province and has said it will take it back by force if necessary.
