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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Secretary Pompeo With Wendy Bell of The Wendy Bell Show - China

QUESTION: Oh my gosh, it is so great to hear your voice. Can you imagine what you’ve been going through with China, with all of this jazz? I cannot even fathom how busy you’ve been. Tell me what’s going on and the latest in China, because I know you’re calling for transparency, sir, and I’m feeling and a lot of Americans are feeling we’re not getting it.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Wendy, thank you, first of all, for having me on today, and it’s an incredible privilege…

Secretary Pompeo With Jeff Katz of The Jeff Katz Show - China

"QUESTION: Excellent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is joining us this afternoon. Mr. Secretary, can we talk a little bit about the role that the World Health Organization and China have played in this? It just seems to many of us that they’ve never been honest with the outside world related to this, they’re still not being honest, and yet President Trump when he points it out somehow is the bad guy.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah. In a time of crisis, you find out that the…

Secretary Pompeo With Guy Benson of The Guy Benson Show - China

"QUESTION: So I want to ask you about – just changing gears to disinformation, and I saw this tweet yesterday from NBC News here in the U.S. It sort of knocked my socks off a little bit. This was the tweet: “U.S. reports 1,264 coronavirus deaths…over 24 hours. Meanwhile in China, where the pandemic broke out, not a single new coronavirus death was reported,” which is sort of like wow, look at what China’s accomplished, and compared to the U.S., that’s – ooh, maybe we’re…

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday. Secretary Pompeo and Prime Minister Hun Sen discussed the long history of friendship the United States has offered to Cambodia, especially in the form of development aid since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations 70 years ago. The Secretary and Prime Minister discussed the importance of Cambodia’s sovereignty as well as ways to strengthen its democratic governance. Secretary Pompeo stressed the United States’ commitment in assisting Cambodia in its response to…

Secretary Pompeo's Remarks During Coronavirus Briefing - China

"Q Thank you so much. Do you feel like China held — withheld critical information from the United States? And will there be any consequences for that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: You know, this is not the time for retribution, but it is still the time for clarity and transparency. We’re still working on this problem set. There’s still data that these good people need so that they can perform their analysis of how to both develop therapeutics and a vaccine and to understand where this virus…

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Australian Prime Minister Morrison

"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today. Secretary Pompeo and Prime Minister Morrison emphasized the importance of U.S.-Australian and international coordination to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the public health risk caused by the outbreak. Secretary Pompeo thanked Prime Minister Morrison for Australia’s support for repatriating American Citizens. The two also discussed the importance of a strong international response to the outbreak in the region, including in Southeast Asia."

President Trump's Remarks on Trade with China

"Q Thank you, Mr. President. Only last week, there were multiple flights coming from China full of medical supplies.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes.

Q Companies like Huawei and Alibaba has been donating to the United States —

THE PRESIDENT: Right. People I know very well.

Q — like 1.5 million N95 masks, and also a lot of medical gloves and much more medical supplies. So —

THE PRESIDENT: Sounds like a statement more than a question.

Q And Ambassador — Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai last night…

Secretary Pompeo’s Call with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar

"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar by telephone today regarding coordination of efforts to respond to COVID-19. The Secretary highlighted the importance of continued close cooperation between the United States, India, and other close partners and allies to combat this international crisis, including strengthening global pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing and supply chains. He also reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to work with India to advance peace, prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the…

Secretary Esper's Phone Call With Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto

"Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper spoke with his Indonesian counterpart, Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto, on the phone today to discuss COVID-19. Both leaders offered sympathies to those affected by COVID-19 in the United States and in Indonesia. Secretary Esper thanked Minister Prabowo and his government for their leadership in responding to COVID-19 and asked how else the United States might help. Minister Prabowo conveyed his government's gratitude to the United States for its first tranche of support to Indonesia, including $2.3 million…

Secretary Pompeo With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show - China and the Coronavirus

"QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, we’ve got to deal with this issue of China. Are you confident now? They have valuable intel and information that could help the world after they hid this, when you said the last time on this show, you would have gladly sent our experts over to help them.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Sean, President Trump and I have been committed to making sure that we had the best data available. When you hear Doctors Fauci and Birx talk about risk, talk about fatalities, trying…