U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te ¡ª a move that would break with years of precedent ¡ª as he used language similar to China to describe the democratic island as a ¡°problem.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,¡± Trump told reporters Wednesday when asked if he planned to call his Taiwanese counterpart before making a decision on a $14 billion arms sale to the island.

¡°We have that situation very well in hand,¡± he added. ¡°We had a great meeting with (Chinese) President Xi (Jinping) ... we¡¯ll work on that, the Taiwan problem.¡±