Washington, Dec. 12 (CNA) A former United States national security advisor on Thursday confirmed delivering President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) congratulatory letter to Donald Trump, calling it a “great start” for relations between the two sides.
Robert O’Brien, who served as Trump’s national security advisor from 2019 to 2021, said that he delivered the letter to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence as reported by CNN in November, and that the U.S. president-elect was reportedly “very pleased.”
O’Brien made the remarks during an event hosted by the Washington D.C.-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute (GTI). He noted that Lai’s letter marked one of the first instances of communication following Trump’s election victory.
“I think it was a great start,” he said, despite no direct phone call having taken place.
O’Brien was referring to when Taiwan’s former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) personally called Trump in December 2016 to congratulate him on his first presidential victory.
The 10-minute call marked the first direct communication between a Taiwanese leader and a U.S. president-elect since the diplomatic ties between Taipei and Washington were cut off in 1979.
During the GTI event, O’Brien highlighted Trump’s appointment of several pro-Taiwan officials in his incoming administration, including China hawks Marco Rubio as secretary of state nominee, Mike Waltz as national security advisor, and Alex Wong, who has family connections with Taiwan, as deputy national security advisor.