House Speaker Mike Johnson still doesn’t know anything about what Donald Trump is saying.Johnson has spent the bulk of his time atop the House dodging attempts by reporters to pin down his opinion on the Trump administration’s various machinations. That remained true during a press huddle Friday, when a journalist asked Johnson about the president’s relaxed approach to safeguarding Taiwan from China’s control.“Should President Trump have been more committal when it comes to Taiwan during his visit to China?” asked a reporter.“I haven’t seen—I’ve been really busy the last couple days, so I haven’t seen the exact readout on how that discussion went,” Johnson said. “I heard a couple little comments off-hand of what he said. He feels like they had a very productive meeting, they talked about some really important issues. I’m awaiting a sit-down with him and go through it in detail.”“We’ve always been concerned and we’ve made America’s interests very clear, our position on Taiwan. They need to stay independent and secure there and we have an interest in that, as does everyone around the world, because of chip manufacturing and other reasons there,” Johnson continued, adding that he couldn’t speak on the topic further because he had not yet discussed it with the president.It’s remarkable that Johnson—as one of the most powerful lawmakers in Congress—does not feel empowered to speak independently about U.S. policy. Yet it’s perhaps equally alarming that his strategy is to consistently play inept and ignorant as to the White House’s activity, particularly since Trump refused to commit to a planned arms sale to Taiwan after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Chinese leadership warned the U.S. against supporting Taiwan, promising that doing so would place U.S.-China relations in “great jeopardy.”“‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water,” a readout from the Chinese government stated. “The U.S. side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.”China has reaffirmed for years that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory, and that it intends to formally reunite with the island nation. More than 23 million people live in Taiwan, and its sovereignty is highly contested due to a complex history of colonization.The U.S. has provided material defense support to Taiwan since 1979, when Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. The law binds the U.S. to resist anything that would jeopardize Taiwan’s national security.While speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One Friday morning, Trump refused to say whether he would defend Taiwan “if it came to it.”“I don’t want to say. I’m not gonna say that,” Trump said. “There’s only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me, I’m the only person. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, ‘I don’t talk about that.’”“He asked me if I’d defend them,” he clarified. “I said, ‘I don’t talk about that.’”Trump added that he would make a determination on the arms deal “over the next fairly short period.”Johnson was not always so hesitant to speak his mind. In October 2023—shortly after he won the gavel—Johnson said that the U.S. should intervene between Russia and Ukraine “because I don’t believe it would stop there.” Q: "Would the U.S. defend Taiwan if it came to it?"Trump: "I don't wanna say. I'm not gonna say that. There's only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me…That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said 'I don't talk about that.' He asked me if I'd… pic.twitter.com/kYVgMH1hMP— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 15, 2026“It would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan,” Johnson warned at the time.