Cortez Masto, Colleagues to President Trump: Don’t Negotiate Away Americans’ National Security

Washington, D.C. - Ahead of President Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) led a letter joined by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Chris Coons (D-Md.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) urging him to protect U.S. and our allies' national security in trade negotiations.

"Ahead of your meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, we write to urge you not to negotiate away America and our allies' national security," the Senators wrote. "The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses a fundamental threat to U.S. national security, economic prosperity, and global leadership…Across multiple administrations and congresses, there has been bipartisan support for tools that safeguard our national security, including export controls and investment screening mechanisms on critical technologies, as well as partnerships with trusted allies."

This letter comes as the Trump administration has already made significant concessions to China - highlighted in the letter - including weakening U.S. export controls on semiconductor chips, barring Taiwan's president from making a planned layover in the U.S., and offering little detail on how they will comply with the bipartisan TikTok law to limit CCP influence over the app.

"We are deeply disturbed by your recent statements and actions, which indicate that you are all too willing to sacrifice these vital national security tools for empty promises and illusory 'wins'," they said. The Senators continued by urging the Trump administration to:

• Reject Chinese efforts to relax national security restrictions on their investments in the U.S;
• Protect the work of the Treasury Department's Outbound Investment Security Program, which was designed to ensure that U.S. firms do not contribute to the development of sensitive technologies in countries like China;
• Soundly deny any efforts by President Xi to extract a formal statement that the United States "opposes" Taiwan's independence.

"You have expressed confidence that you will leave South Korea this week with a "really fair and really great trade deal." We urge you to understand that any deal that sacrifices America or our allies' national security is neither," the Senators concluded.

The full letter can be found here.

Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts in Congress to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party's influence and protect American national and economic security. Cortez Masto's FIGHT China Act to safeguard America's national security by prohibiting and requiring notification of U.S. investment in certain technologies in China, and her PASS Act to ban individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from purchasing agricultural land and businesses located near U.S. military installations both passed the Senate in the FY2026 NDAA. She has also introduced the Pacific Partnership Act to strengthen America's strategic partnerships with Pacific Island nations and combat the increasing Chinese aggression in the region.

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