Taiwan is courting Maga influencers to get Trump’s attention

TAIPEI – Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried that he could undermine the self-ruled democracy’s interests in talks with China, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Mr Trump has said Taiwan will likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwan independence, Bloomberg reported in September, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te and his top officials have given a blitz of interviews to conservative US figures in recent months, using those platforms to promote Taiwan’s security issues to so-called Maga (Make America Great Again) audiences. During such appearances, they have touted the common democratic values underpinning ties with the US and encouraged deeper trade and investment links. 

The strategy aims to elevate Taiwan on Mr Trump’s agenda, said the people, who asked not to be identified while discussing private information. Unlike other leaders, Mr Lai is restricted from one-to-one contact with Mr Trump. Even so, the outreach has surprised some officials in Taipei, with one saying it reflects an urgency on Mr Lai’s part to reach out to the Republican leader. 

“Lai’s full-court press across conservative US media reflects Taipei’s rising anxiety over President Trump’s intentions,” said Bloomberg Economics’ Mr Adam Farrar.

“Even TSMC’s multi-billion-dollar US investments haven’t clearly strengthened Taiwan’s standing in Washington,” he added, referring to the chip giant’s latest US$100 billion (S$130 billion) pledge.

In response to questions, Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei said the island’s ties with the US are built on a “foundation of bipartisan support”. 

“Taiwan has consistently maintained broad engagement with both major US parties and actively cultivated friendly ties across various sectors,” he added.

The US has encouraged Taiwanese officials to engage with new media outlets so they can converse with real Americans instead of liberal elites, a Trump administration official said in a statement. This is not an indication of worries about the administration’s policies, the person added, noting that Taiwan and the US are deeply partnered in security, technology, manufacturing and education.

Mr Lai and his deputy have featured on two podcasts with conservative US hosts in recent months, including one where Taiwan’s President made an appeal to Mr Trump, saying that standing by the island would help him win a Nobel Peace Prize. 

“If Taiwan is annexed, China will become even more powerful in competing with the US,” Mr Lai told The Clay Travis And Buck Sexton Show earlier in October. “This will also impact America’s own national interests.”  

The host said he had spent about a week in Taiwan before recording the programme and dedicated airtime to praising the island’s safety record, contrasting its low crime rate with US cities such as Chicago. Days later, the podcast hosted Mr Eric Trump, the President’s son, although they did not discuss China or Taiwan. 

Mr Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, has led the charge from Washington. Appearing on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Mr Yui told Mr Trump’s former White House chief strategist that the “diplomatic trenches are being fought very hard”.

He has followed that up with turns on Fox News and by dining with former Navy Seal Shawn Ryan, whose interview with Mr Trump in 2024 racked up about 4.6 million views.

While the US remains Taiwan’s biggest military backer, there have been signs Mr Trump’s support could be wavering, as China hawks who once restrained his transactional foreign policy increasingly take a back seat. 

In July, Mr Lai called off an overseas trip after Washington denied his request to transit in New York. Weeks later, Mr Trump halted a military aid package for Taiwan worth more than US$400 million.

Around the same time, Beijing stepped up pressure on the US to officially say it opposes Taiwan independence, which would upend decades of strategic ambiguity. 

The US remains committed to its one China policy, and to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.  

China rejects any official engagement between the US and Taiwan, which it sees as a breakaway territory, and has reacted strongly in recent years to any interactions that test those boundaries. In 2022, it responded to then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei by firing missiles over the main island and encircling it with unprecedented military drills. 

Although Mr Trump upended decades of delicate diplomacy when he had a phone call with former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen after winning the 2016 election, since then he has not spoken with a leader from the island democracy.

Mr Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party has little in common with Mr Trump’s Maga agenda, championing left-leaning social values that helped Taiwan become the first Asian democracy to legalise same-sex marriage. That has led to some awkward exchanges. 

In October, Mr Matt Schlapp, who chairs the Conservative Political Action Conference, was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the Taipei Security Dialogue, which is organised by a research group affiliated with the island’s Defence Ministry.

Mr Schlapp spent nearly seven minutes attacking wokeness and undocumented immigrants in the US during his half hour address, shocking some delegates who expressed concern that he was treating the event like a Maga rally. On the sidelines of that event, Mr Schlapp told Bloomberg News that before 2025, Taipei had never reached out to his organisation.

Taiwan is now trying to balance its identity as a progressive democracy with the need to strengthen connections with Trump, said Mr William Yang, senior analyst for North-east Asia at the International Crisis Group.

While that might trigger criticism at home, he added, “it reflects the Taiwan government’s pragmatism in managing relations with the US at a time of growing uncertainty”. Bloomberg