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The Experts and Nuance - Trump Did Not - What is Gates talking about? Did not what? What Experts? What nuance? This is such an insightful interview. And Gates is not here attacking Trump. But will MAGA listen?
Face The Nation Transcripts
Transcript: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 17, 2026
Updated on: May 17, 2026 / 10:24 AM EDT / CBS News
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The following is the transcript of the interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 17, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Xi Jinping's language in that public statement that was released by his government was very strong on Taiwan. China considers it a core issue, as they described it. The U.S. still officially has this stance of strategic ambiguity, but do you think the tone needs to shift a little bit from the United States, given how strong the Chinese rhetoric is now?
SECRETARY GATES: I think the Chinese rhetoric has often been strong in the past when it comes to Taiwan. Whenever we've made an arms sales to Taiwan in the past, the Bush administration, Obama administration, and so on, the Chinese rhetoric gets very, very strong. So I think- I think Xi was reiterating the Chinese position on that. I think it would be a mistake to change the carefully worded position of the United States with respect to Taiwan. Any change at all, the nuances- this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verbs, and so on. So, I think- I think keeping things, the U.S. position as it has been was important, and I think everything I've read so far indicates that the President did that.
www.cbsnews.com
Face The Nation Transcripts
Transcript: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 17, 2026
Updated on: May 17, 2026 / 10:24 AM EDT / CBS News
Add CBS News on Google
The following is the transcript of the interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 17, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Xi Jinping's language in that public statement that was released by his government was very strong on Taiwan. China considers it a core issue, as they described it. The U.S. still officially has this stance of strategic ambiguity, but do you think the tone needs to shift a little bit from the United States, given how strong the Chinese rhetoric is now?
SECRETARY GATES: I think the Chinese rhetoric has often been strong in the past when it comes to Taiwan. Whenever we've made an arms sales to Taiwan in the past, the Bush administration, Obama administration, and so on, the Chinese rhetoric gets very, very strong. So I think- I think Xi was reiterating the Chinese position on that. I think it would be a mistake to change the carefully worded position of the United States with respect to Taiwan. Any change at all, the nuances- this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verbs, and so on. So, I think- I think keeping things, the U.S. position as it has been was important, and I think everything I've read so far indicates that the President did that.
Transcript: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," May 17, 2026
The following is the transcript of the interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on May 17, 2026.
www.cbsnews.com
