On Monday, the networks continued their freak-out over President-elect Donald Trump accepting a congratulatory phone call from the president of Taiwan. The CBS, NBC, and ABC morning shows all fretted over the “diplomatic firestorm” sparked by the “controversial” move.
Leading off CBS This Morning, co-host Norah O’Donnell decried: “President-elect Trump launches a Twitter tirade against China over its currency and military build-up. The rant comes just after he broke a nearly 40-year policy dealing with China’s neighbor, Taiwan.” In the report that followed minutes later, substitute co-host Josh Ellitot proclaimed: “His phone call with Taiwan's President touched off something of a weekend diplomatic firestorm with China and broke decades of presidential protocol.”
Correspondent Major Garrett explained:
Well, when Mr. Trump accepted a call from Taiwan's President, some thought this might have been an inadvertent mistake. But we have learned the Trump transition team spent some time arranging this call in hopes it would signal its willingness to challenge China diplomatically, economically, and in the South China Sea....On Face the Nation, Sunday, incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tried to downplay the President-elect's decision to take the call from Taiwan's president. Something no elected American leader has done since 1979 when diplomatic relations were severed in favor of stronger relations with mainland China.
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On NBC’s Today, co-host Matt Lauer declared: “President-elect Donald Trump is taking a fresh swipe at China on the heels of his controversial phone call with the president of Taiwan.” Correspondent Kristen Welker asserted: “...the President-elect grapples with ongoing fallout from breaking with decades of U.S.-China policy by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan on Friday.”
She lamented that the incoming commander-in-chief “did very little to quell the controversy, tweeting on Sunday, ‘Did China ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency?’”
Wrapping up the segment, Welker cited propaganda from the Communist nation: “Meantime, one of China's top commentators responding to that tweet that Donald Trump had about China over the weekend, writing, ‘Trump still thinks that America is the number one in the world, but that's not the Chinese perspective.’” She concluded: “Expect a whole lot more fall-out about this throughout the day.”
On Good Morning America, correspondent Jon Karl announced: “Whoever gets the job [of Secretary of State] will have to deal with the growing controversy with China over President-elect Trump’s decision to take a phone call from the president of Taiwan.” He noted: “For four decades, U.S. Presidents have respected that by avoiding direct contact with the Taiwanese president.”
Karl worried that Trump “continued to go after China over the weekend on Twitter, tweeting, ‘Did China ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete?)’”
Here are excerpts of the December 5 coverage on all three shows:
CBS This Morning
7:00 AM ET TEASE:
NORAH O’DONNELL: President-elect Trump launches a Twitter tirade against China over its currency and military build-up. The rant comes just after he broke a nearly 40-year policy dealing with China’s neighbor, Taiwan.
7:14 AM ET SEGMENT:
JOSH ELLIOTT: President-elect Trump is shaking up U.S. foreign policy more than a month before he takes office. His phone call with Taiwan's President touched off something of a weekend diplomatic firestorm with China and broke decades of presidential protocol. Mr. Trump was defiant last night on Twitter. He questioned China about currency devaluation, trade deals with the U.S. and military expansion into the South China Sea. Major Garrett looks at the mixed signals from the President-elect. Major, good morning.
MAJOR GARRETT: Good morning. A bit of back story here. The U.S. government has, for almost four decades, followed a so-called one China policy. That means recognizing Taiwan through defense contracts and informal contacts, but not as a separate government with its own diplomatic standing. Well, when Mr. Trump accepted a call from Taiwan's President, some thought this might have been an inadvertent mistake. But we have learned the Trump transition team spent some time arranging this call in hopes it would signal its willingness to challenge China diplomatically, economically, and in the South China Sea.REINCE PRIEBUS: This was this a two-minute congratulatory call.
GARRETT: On Face the Nation, Sunday, incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus tried to downplay the president-elect's decision to take the call from Taiwan's president. Something no elected American leader has done since 1979 when diplomatic relations were severed in favor of stronger relations with mainland China.
(...)
Today
7:11 AM ET
MATT LAUER: President-elect Donald Trump is taking a fresh swipe at China on the heels of his controversial phone call with the president of Taiwan. This as Mr. Trump expands his field of candidates for Secretary of State amid a new cabinet pick just this morning.
(...)
7:12 AM ET
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Expands Search for Secretary of State; Takes Swipe at China After Questionable Call With Taiwan]
President-elect Donald Trump widening his search for Secretary of State. Transition officials say he’s eyeing Jon Huntsman, a former ambassador to China under President Obama. The one-time Utah governor was critical of Mr. Trump during the campaign, at one point even calling for Mike Pence to replace him after that 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced. Huntsman joins a number of other potential candidates, including Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon-Mobile, former mayor Rudy Guiliani, General David Petraeus, and Mitt Romney.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: Who knows how many finalists there will be and it’s a big decision and nobody should rush through it.
WELKER: Huntsman’s expertise in China could be an asset, as the President-elect grapples with ongoing fallout from breaking with decades of U.S.-China policy by accepting a congratulatory call from the leader of Taiwan on Friday. China has not recognized Taiwan since a civil war in 1949. Huntsman downplayed the flap.
JON HUNTSMAN: Having lived in Taiwan twice and having lived in China once, there’s a little too much hyperventilating about this one.
WELKER: For his part, Mr. Trump did very little to quell the controversy, tweeting on Sunday, “Did China ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency?” On Meet the Press, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said the call with Taiwan does not signal a shift in policy.
MIKE PENCE: I think I would just say to our counterparts in China that this was a moment of courtesy.
(...)
7:14 AM ET
And as for that controversy with Taiwan, the Washington Post reporting that Trump and his advisers were planning that call for weeks. Meantime, one of China's top commentators responding to that tweet that Donald Trump had about China over the weekend, writing, “Trump still thinks that America is the number one in the world, but that's not the Chinese perspective.” Noting, “We do not need to ask permission for every decision we make.” Expect a whole lot more fall-out about this throughout the day.
(...)
GMA
7:10 AM ET(...)
JON KARL: Whoever gets the job [of Secretary of State] will have to deal with the growing controversy with China over President-elect Trump’s decision to take a phone call from the president of Taiwan. Taiwan is officially a part of China and not an independent country. For four decades, U.S. Presidents have respected that by avoiding direct contact with the Taiwanese president.
MIKE PENCE: President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it. And president-elect Donald Trump takings a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it's become something of a controversy.
KARL: But Trump continued to go after China over the weekend on Twitter, tweeting “Did China ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete?)”
(...)
7:12 AM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Meantime, Martha, this phone call to check to the Taiwanese President over the weekend. You saw Mike Pence yesterday on This Week kind of downplay this. But this was a deliberate strategy by the Trump team.
MARTHA RADDATZ: Any call to or from a President-elect is a big deal, especially when that phone line has been quiet for decades. On the other hand, it can be seen as way to send a message to China with a bit of cover, since Donald Trump has not yet taken office. Mike Pence can easily say this doesn't mean there's a shift in policy. Yet this puts China on notice that things may not be the same under a Trump presidency.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Starts to shake things up a little bit.
(...)
