In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek on June 25, published Tuesday, Trump said: “I know the people very well, and I respect them very much. They’ve taken over almost 100 percent of our chip business. I think Taiwan should pay us for defense.”
Asked about Trump's comment during a Bloomberg roundtable on the sidelines of the Republican convention, O'Brien said he believed Trump meant to suggest that Taiwan should contribute more to its defense.
“They need to spend more to take care of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party, and we can help them, and we can be part of that,” O’Brien told reporters, referring to the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party. “I think what President Trump is saying is we have to share that burden.”
He suggested spending at least 5% of GDP on military forces to keep up with China, but added that the amount was a rough estimate.
Although O'Brien is not part of the Trump campaign and has made clear he is expressing his personal opinion, he is in regular contact with the former president on national security issues.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery, Michael Martina and Simon Lewis)
