President Donald Trump said Xi Jinping understands the consequences if China invades Taiwan, while refusing to specifically say the United States would defend the island, according to an extract of a CBS News interview broadcast Sunday.

Trump said Taiwan "never even came up as a subject" when he met the Chinese president in South Korea on Thursday for their first face-to-face meeting in six years.

Asked on CBS's "60 Minutes" whether he would order US forces into action if China moved militarily on Taiwan, Trump said: "You'll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that."

But Trump declined to spell out what he meant in the interview conducted Friday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, adding: "I can't give away my secrets. The other side knows."

The US president claim

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