--- title: Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was 'Courtesy' description: Mike Pence said there was nothing to read into regarding Donald Trump's phone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen canonical: https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-04T15:44:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:07:41.615Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was Just a 'Courtesy' og:description: "The waters here seem like a little bit of a tempest in a teapot" og:url: https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66d9fb6f1ce1fbb7/6988b081196cf4c96903e2a6/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was Just a 'Courtesy' twitter:description: "The waters here seem like a little bit of a tempest in a teapot" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66d9fb6f1ce1fbb7/6988b081196cf4c96903e2a6/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was Just a 'Courtesy' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 4, 2016 3:44 PM UTC  Vice President-elect Mike Pence speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, Nov. 29, 2016. Vice President-elect Mike Pence speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, Nov. 29, 2016. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Dec 4, 2016 3:44 PM UTC Mike Pence said there was nothing to read into regarding [Donald Trump’s phone call](http://time.com/4589641/donald-trump-china-taiwan-call/) with [Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen](http://time.com/4589590/donald-trump-taiwan-president-phone-call/), calling the conversation a “courtesy call” on NBC’s _Meet the Press_. “She reached out to the President-elect, and he took the call from the democratically elected leader of Taiwan,” Pence told host Chuck Todd, noting the call on Friday was one of more than 50 Trump has held with world leaders since winning the election. The leaders of the U.S. and Taiwan have not spoken directly since 1979, when the U.S. restored diplomatic relations with Beijing. The diplomatic community was stunned by the call, but Trump has downplayed it, noting that the U.S. sells Taiwan military equipment. The phone call between Trump and the President of Taiwan [angered China](http://time.com/4589641/donald-trump-china-taiwan-call/?xid=homepage), whose Foreign Minister called the move a “small trick by Taiwan,” according to Hong Kong–based Phoenix TV. Pence said the Chinese government had no reason for concern, and that Trump’s transition team would probably not reach out to officials there to calm the diplomatic waters. “The waters here seem like a little bit of a tempest in a teapot,” Pence said, later adding, “I think most Americans and frankly most leaders around the world know this for what it was. And it’s all part and parcel. I think you’re going to see in a President Donald Trump a willingness to engage the world but engage the world on America’s terms.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/"},"headline":"Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was Just a 'Courtesy'","datePublished":"2016-12-04T15:44:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:07:41.615Z","description":"\"The waters here seem like a little bit of a tempest in a teapot\"","url":"https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66d9fb6f1ce1fbb7/6988b081196cf4c96903e2a6/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66d9fb6f1ce1fbb7/6988b081196cf4c96903e2a6/mike-pence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York","caption":"President-Elect Trump Holds Meetings At Trump Tower In New York","creditText":"Drew Angerer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4589814/mike-pence-donald-trump-taiwan/","name":"Mike Pence Says Donald Trump's Taiwan Call Was Just a 'Courtesy'"}}]}] ```