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 Esper's Remarks to Senator Martha McSally (AZ) - China

Secretary Esper's Opening Remarks During Secretary of Defense Confirmation Hearing - China

Secretary Esper's Remarks to Senator Deb Fischer (NE) - China

Secretary Esper's Remarks to Senator David Perdue (GA) - China

Remarks by President Trump in Cabinet Meeting - China

"You read yesterday where China is down very substantially. They’re having the worst year they’ve had in 27 years. I don’t want to have them have bad years. But we made a deal and they broke the deal on me. The deal was done. It was practically done. It was just like a very short period of time, we would’ve had it finished. And they broke the deal. They decided they didn’t want to do the things that they had agreed to. So I said…

Secretary Esper's Remarks to Senator Angus King (ME) - China

President Trump's Remarks on Trade with China

Secretary Pompeo's Interview With Sean Hannity of The Sean Hannity Show - North Korea and China

"QUESTION: What updates can you give us in terms of China and the trade negotiations, and is there any update with North Korea and Kim Jong-un?

SECRETARY POMPEO: So on North Korea, the President’s visit to North Korea, where he went across into North Korea for the first time a president had done that, has given us another chance to sit down with them and have another conversation. And I hope the North Koreans will come to the table with ideas that they didn’t have…

Remarks by President Trump at the 3rd Annual Made in America Product Showcase - China

"Previous administrations allowed foreign countries to steal our jobs and plunder our wealth. They stole our wealth. They stole so much, and it was allowed to go on so long. But it’s not going on any longer. You take a look at what’s happening. Look at today’s front page in the Wall Street Journal. You’ll see where China has had its worst year in 27 years. And I’m not looking for that. But we had a deal with China, and they decided not to make…

Remarks by President Trump at the Presidential Social Media Summit - China

"I, for a while, have said that the thing that’s going to bring us together is great success. Now we have tremendous success — greater than we’ve ever had before. I mean, our country picked up trillions of dollars in value and worth. China has gone down trillions of dollars. The tariffs have hurt them. I don’t want to hurt them, but I want to give us a fair playing field. But China has gone down trillions. We’ve gone up tril- — not billions, trillions…

Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure - China

"Q Democrats are portraying your action yesterday on the census citizenship question as backing down. Do you believe that you backed down?

THE PRESIDENT: No, no. Who said — who said that?

Q Democrats are saying you backed down. Do you believe you backed down?

THE PRESIDENT: Look, anything you do, the Democrats will say it’s not good. In the meantime, they had a disaster. They had these laws that are so bad — catch-and-release, and you look at the different laws — visa lottery…