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.
The Trump Administration & US - Indo-Pacific Relations
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Remarks by Vice President Pence at the 2nd Annual Religious Freedom Ministerial - Myanmar [Burma], China, and North Korea
"We’re also standing up for the persecuted Rohingya people in Burma. While that conflict has fallen along ethnic lines, we cannot ignore the rise of militant Buddhism against Muslim and Christian minorities that’s taken place. A brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya has forced more than 700,000 to flee across the border to Bangladesh. And though the United States has repeatedly urged the Burmese government to hold accountable all those responsible, the government has continued to imprison and harass innocent men and women.
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Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo With David Brody of CBN-TV - China and North Korea
"QUESTION: No surprise that China is not here. What is the message to China? You have to work with them on a lot of different issues – trade and others. That Muslim community, the Uighur Muslim community up in China persecuted. What’s the message to China especially as it relates to this event?
SECRETARY POMPEO: So the message is really simple. It’s a message that’s no different than that what we share with other countries around the world that aren’t treating every human being with…
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Remarks by President Trump in Cabinet Meeting - North Korea
"I could possibly say a couple of things about North Korea. When I took over — when I became President, North Korea was ready to go to war. We were, I think, headed to a war. It would have been very quickly, too. It would have been a very bad war, a very rough war. But I believe we were headed in that one direction. There was no communication. There was no talk. There were nuclear weapons being — and nuclear everything being tested. Constantly…
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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…
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Secretary Pompeo's Interview With Sebastian Gorka of America First - North Korea
"QUESTION: We could discuss so many things. You had an amazing initiative this week with regards to unalienable rights. I want to talk about that. But for a moment, just for our listeners coast to coast, can you take into the truly historic event where you were with the President the first time that an American president since 1953 stepped across the DMZ? What was it like, Mike Pompeo, to be there for that historic moment?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Sebastian, it was really something. It was…
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Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure - China and North Korea
"Q Joe Biden called you a “bully” in that interview last night. What do you think of that?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think I’m bully at all. I just don’t like taking — being taken advantage of by other countries, by pharmaceutical companies, by all of the people that have taken advantage of this country.
You look at what Joe Biden has done with China. We’ve lost our shirts with China and now China is dying to make a deal. So — and we’re taking…
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Remarks by President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1:1 Meeting
"PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I want to thank you, Chairman. You hear the power of that voice. Nobody has heard that voice before. He doesn’t do news conferences, in case you haven’t heard. And this was a special moment. This is, I think, really — as President Moon said, this is a historic moment, the fact that we’re meeting.
And I want to thank Chairman Kim for something else. When I put out the social media notification, if he didn’t show up, the press was going…
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Remarks by President Trump, Chairman Kim Jong Un, and President Moon in Greeting at the Korean Demilitarized Zone
"PRESIDENT TRUMP: I just want to say that this is my honor. I didn’t really expect it. We were in Japan for the G20. We came over and I said, “Hey, I’m over here. I want to call up Chairman Kim.” And we got to meet. And stepping across that line was a great honor. A lot of progress has been made. A lot of friendships have been made. And this has been in particular a great friendship. So I just want to thank you…
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Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo Remarks to Press - North Korea
"SECRETARY POMPEO: Go ahead. You all saw it. I don’t need to tell you about the story, but what do you all want to talk about?
QUESTION: Well, when talks resume, where do you – what’s the next step? Where do you start? Would you start where you left off or —
SECRETARY POMPEO: Yeah, so I think so. And so I think one of the things that hadn’t been written about is even in Hanoi we’d made progress, all right? And so we think…
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Remarks by President Trump and President Moon of the Republic of Korea Before Restricted Bilateral Meeting
"[PRESIDENT TRUMP:] I just had a meeting with the business leaders of South Korea. And these are not only business leaders here, they’re business leaders throughout the world. They are among the greatest businesspeople anywhere in the world. We went through a lot — Lotte, Samsung — so many that are so — Hyundai — so many that are so respected.
And we talked and we had a fairly short meeting, unfortunately. I wish it could have been longer. But these are very, very highly…