President Donald Trump holds a bilateral press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. (December 29, 2025)
[People News] President Donald Trump downplayed the Chinese Communist Party’s large-scale military exercises conducted around Taiwan, saying that these actions are not new developments but rather military activities that China has been carrying out for many years.
According to a report by Voice of America, Trump made the remarks on Monday (December 29) at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He emphasized that he has a good relationship with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and said that he had not received any notification from Beijing regarding the related military exercises.
He said, “There’s nothing that worries me.”
Trump also stated that the CCP “has been conducting naval exercises in that region for 20 years.”
On December 30, the CCP launched the largest round of military exercises in recent years around Taiwan. According to information released by the Chinese side, the drills included prolonged live-fire exercises, the launching of rockets into waters surrounding Taiwan, as well as drills involving strikes against sea and air targets and anti-submarine operations.
Beijing named this round of exercises “Joint Justice Mission–2025.” It came 11 days after the United States announced a major arms sales package to Taiwan totaling approximately US$11.1 billion. The CCP military claimed that the drills were intended to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and constituted a “serious warning” to “Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference forces.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated that during the exercises, the CCP military dispatched dozens of military aircraft as well as naval and coast guard vessels, and fired multiple rockets into waters surrounding Taiwan. This was the sixth large-scale encirclement exercise around Taiwan since 2022 and the closest one to Taiwan to date. The Taiwanese military also said that it had activated a rapid response mechanism and was closely monitoring CCP military movements.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that Taiwan’s frontline forces are fully prepared for defense, but that Taipei has no intention of escalating tensions. In a post on social media platform X, he accused the CCP of “military provocations along the first island chain that seriously disrupt global maritime trade, air traffic, and regional peace.” The post stated, “Taiwan has always upheld a responsible attitude, neither escalating tensions nor yielding to threats—we will resolutely defend freedom and will never bow to coercion.”
Last Friday, the CCP announced sanctions against U.S. defense companies and executives involved in arms sales to Taiwan. In response to a request for comment from Voice of America (VOA), a U.S. State Department spokesperson said that the United States “strongly opposes” Beijing’s retaliatory actions and reiterated that the U.S. provides Taiwan with necessary defensive articles and services in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act. The spokesperson also “urged Beijing to stop its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage Taiwan in meaningful dialogue.”
The U.S. State Department has not yet responded to Voice of America’s request for comment on this large-scale CCP encirclement military exercise around Taiwan.
Last week, the U.S. Department of War released the 2025 China Military Power Report, which stated that the Pentagon assesses that the CCP is preparing to have the capability to “win a Taiwan Strait war” by 2027.
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, with trade worth tens of trillions of U.S. dollars passing through these waters each year.
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