A Taiwan Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet takes off at Hsinchu Air Base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Dec. 29, 2025. Cheng Yu-chen/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Washington’s recent military operation in Venezuela should not be seen as a precedent for China to take action against Taiwan, arguing that the circumstances were fundamentally different and insisting that Beijing would not move against the island while he remains in office.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Jan. 8, Trump rejected suggestions that the U.S. capture and exfiltration of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro could embolden Chinese leader Xi Jinping to alter the status quo in Taiwan, or provide justification for other territorial conflicts.
