Asia Matters for America
America Matters for Asia
Explore US-Asia National and Local Connections
An initiative of the East-West Center and Asia Matters for America partners and stakeholders
The 2020 Presidential Candidates on the Indo-Pacific resource highlighted mentions of Indo-Pacific issues by US presidential candidates and nominees in speeches, campaign documents, and debates.
To view statements by President Trump prior to his June 18, 2019 declaration to seek a second term, as well as members of his Cabinet, visit The Trump Administration & US - Indo-Pacific Relations.
"Q Mr. President, how do you plan on reengaging North Korea in the negotiations?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, weāll see about North Korea. Iād be surprised if North Korea acted hostiley [sic]. I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. I think we both want to keep it that way. He knows I have an election coming up. I donāt think he wants to interfere with that. But weāll have to see.
Heās somebody that Iāve gotten along with very well for three yearsā¦
"PRESIDENT TRUMP: And with trade, I have all the cards. Weāve built a ā we have built something in the last three years thatās been incredible. Youāve seen it. Weāre up $21 trillion, and China is down about $32 trillion.
And as you know, for years, Iāve been hearing that it was ā2019.ā āIn 2019, Chinaās going to become the largest economy.ā Well, that didnāt happen. Weāre much larger than China now, because weāve gone up and theyāve gone down. And theyāve had their worstā¦
"Q Could I ask you about NATO? Why is China such an important subject for this NATO Summit? What threat do they pose?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, China has become very powerful and much more so than in the past. Theyāve done it, largely, with United States money, because our past Presidents allowed them to steal the cookie cutter. And thatās okay ā I donāt begrudge China for that. I begrudge ā Iām very disappointed in our past Presidents and leadership. They allowed this to happenā¦
"On behalf of the American people, Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the people of Japan and to the loved ones of former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. We were saddened to learn of his passing in Tokyo on Friday.
Prime Minister Nakasone was, in the words of President Ronald Reagan, āa friend, a wise colleague, and the leader of Americaās most important partner and ally in the Pacific.ā The former Prime Ministerās efforts to strengthen the United States-Japan alliance and his commitment toā¦
"Today, I have signed into law S. 1838, the āHong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019ā (the āActā). The Act reaffirms and amends the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, specifies United States policy towards Hong Kong, and directs assessment of the political developments in Hong Kong. Certain provisions of the Act would interfere with the exercise of the Presidentās constitutional authority to state the foreign policy of the United States. My Administration will treat each of the provisions of theā¦