Speaking with FRANCE 24’s Sharon Gaffney, David Sacks, Fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains that Trump “could choose to change US policy towards Taiwan and Congress only has so many things that it can do to try to rein that in”. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding two days of meetings on Thursday and Friday where the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, is certain to come up.
David Sacks makes a good point—Trump’s unpredictability on Taiwan could really test the limits of congressional oversight.
I worry that Trump might trade away Taiwan’s status in a deal with Xi, just like he’s done with other allies.
Voters are not going to forget this come election time, that much is certain. (20f79a)
The fact that Congress has so few tools to rein in a president on foreign policy is honestly terrifying.
So Trump and Xi are meeting for two days, and Taiwan is on the table? That’s a huge gamble for stability in the region.
Public trust in democratic institutions is at an all-time low and for good reason. (17256f)
Sacks is right that Trump could change policy unilaterally, but Congress still controls funding and sanctions—don’t count them out.
Beijing must be loving this: a US president who can shift Taiwan policy without much pushback from lawmakers.
Decentralising power would bring decisions closer to the people who are affected by them. (eb46c6)
Every election cycle keeps breaking spending records with no meaningful reform. (0ce98f)
Politicians are far too comfortable making promises they know they can’t keep. (8c6d39)
Populism is filling a vacuum left by mainstream parties abandoning their base. (0e274e)
A government’s legacy should be measured by how it treats the most vulnerable. (b93738)