Trump Bars Taiwan President From Transiting Through U.S.

The Trump administration has blocked Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from transiting through the United States, James Palmer reported for Foreign Policy.

While some speculated that Washington opposed a New York stopover, Taipei said Lai had no overseas travel plans due to domestic issues. I Photo: 賴清德Lai Ching-te X

In response, Didi Tang and Matthew Lee of the Associated Press (AP) reported that the Taiwanese government canceled plans for Lai to transit through the US en route to Latin America.

Conflicting accounts emerged regarding the reasons for the cancellation.

A source familiar with the discussions told AP that the US had “asked Taipei to rearrange the transit—not go through New York,” echoing reports from The Guardian and Al Jazeera.

While some speculated that Washington opposed a New York stopover, Taipei said Lai had no overseas travel plans due to domestic issues, including natural disasters and ongoing tariff negotiations with the US.

Another proposed stop was Dallas, Texas. Regardless of the explanation, the cancellation is seen as a diplomatic win for Beijing and has sparked concerns among experts that the White House may be setting a damaging precedent in US-China-Taiwan relations.