The Trump Administration & US - Indo-Pacific Relations

This resource tracked statements, developments, visits, and other interactions in US-Indo-Pacific relations under the President Trump administration. Special focus was given to the comments and activities of President Donald J. Trump; Vice President Mike Pence; United States Trade Representative Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer; Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Jr.; former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson; former Secretary of Defense James Mattis; and former Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark Esper.

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Remarks by President Trump on Protecting America’s Seniors - China and North Korea

"Q Mr. President, you had said that China is doing everything it can to make sure you don’t get reelected. What specifically are they doing?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, China doesn’t want to see me elected, and the reason is that we’re getting billions and billions of dollars — many billions of dollars a month from China. China never gave our country anything. China gave us nothing. Not 10 cents. And whether it was Biden in charge of China, which was a joke because he ripped…

Secretary Esper's Remarks on China's Conduct in the South China Sea During Program with The Brookings Institution

Secretary Pompeo With Martha Raddatz of ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos - North Korea and China

"QUESTION: Good morning, Mr. Secretary. There are reports this morning – I want to talk about North Korea first, before we get to China – that shots were fired from North Korea into a South Korean guard tower on the DMZ and that the South fired back after a warning. What can you tell us about that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, Martha, thanks for having me on this morning. I’ve seen that reporting, too. I’ve seen some of our internal information as well. We can confirm…

Secretary Pompeo's Remarks on China and COVID-19

President Trump's Virtual Town Hall with Fox News - China

"Martha MacCallum: (20:55)So let’s go to our next question for you all. From Phil Tulkoff, he’s the president of Tulkoff Food Products, which is a family company. Been in the business for over 90 years. They have four locations, South Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, and Tennessee. And here is Phil’s question.

Phil Tulkoff: (21:10)For my firm, the current tariffs add up to almost $60,000 in monthly additional costs for my operations. Lifting these tariffs would help us speed the recovery for many of us…

Republic of the Marshall Islands National Day

"On behalf of the Government of the United States of America, I extend our warm congratulations to the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in celebration of your 41st Constitution Day.

Our two nations share a unique and deep-rooted friendship. I had the privilege of witnessing this bond and experiencing your hospitality during my visit to your country last August.

The United States is grateful to the Marshallese citizens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The Republic of the Marshall Islands remains a…

Secretary Pompeo With Buck Sexton of The Buck Sexton Show - China

"QUESTION: A lot going on right now. China obviously the big focus from the international relations standpoint. There’s a piece in The Washington Post that says, “China wasn’t wild about Pompeo before the virus. It’s really gunning for him now.” And then it seems to list a bunch of state media propaganda directed at you as if you’ve somehow upset them. Mr. Secretary, what have you done to get the ire of the Chinese Communist Party?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Buck, what we’ve tried to do, what…

Secretary Pompeo With Dan “Ox” Ochsner of Ox in the Afternoons - China

"QUESTION: Amen to that. So that – well, you’ve led me into it, then. How do you balance your relations with the Chinese Government, which I assume we have to do as a world power, but when the American proletariat now is catching on that they’re all bad actors and they’ve been playing us all these years?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So look, as for the issue of the virus, we’ve been very clear to the Chinese Communist Party they have a special responsibility. This virus originated…

Secretary Pompeo With Simon Conway of Newsradio 1040 - China

"QUESTION: Right. I’m very pleased that that’s the situation we’re looking at so far.

There’s also, though, the misinformation or disinformation. It’s coming from places like Iran. It’s coming from Russia. It’s coming from China. What are we doing about that and how dangerous is it?

SECRETARY POMPEO: It’s always very dangerous when countries think they can manipulate the information space with real fake news about what’s taking place. We respond. We always correct the record. We do our best to convince those countries that…

Secretary Pompeo With Scott Sands of The Scott Sands Show - China and North Korea

"QUESTION: What can you tell us about what the hell is happening in North Korea? Do we know anything officially about Kim Jong-un?

SECRETARY POMPEO: Well, we know we’ve not been able to identify a public appearance of his for now a little over two weeks – not unheard of, but unusual. But beyond that, I don’t have much that I can share with you today. We are continuing to monitor closely. We are working to make sure we’re prepared for whatever eventuality there is…

President Trump Meeting with Governor of Louisiana - China