Cruz: I’d rather have Trump talk to Taiwan than Cuba or Iran

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday defended President-elect Donald Trump’s phone conversation with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, saying it’s an “improvement” over President Obama’s foreign policy.

“I would much rather have Donald Trump talking to President Tsai than to Cuba’s Raul Castro or Iran’s Hasan Rouhani. This is an improvement,” Cruz said in a tweet Saturday morning, referring to Obama’s openings with the two longtime U.S. foes.

I would much rather have Donald Trump talking to President Tsai than to Cuba’s Raul Castro or Iran’s Hasan Rouhani. This is an improvement.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 3, 2016

{mosads}Trump received a congratulatory phone call from Tsai on Friday, going against decades of America’s “one China” policy of foregoing diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Critics believe the call risks harming relations with China, though some have praised Trump for making a statement with the call.

The president-elect defended himself in a tweet Friday night, noting that the U.S. sells weapons systems to Taiwan.

“Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call,” he wrote.

Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2016