{"id":198769,"date":"2026-05-17T14:09:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/17\/transcript-former-defense-secretary-robert-gates-on-face-the-nation-with-margaret-brennan-may-17-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T14:09:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:09:05","slug":"transcript-former-defense-secretary-robert-gates-on-face-the-nation-with-margaret-brennan-may-17-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/05\/17\/transcript-former-defense-secretary-robert-gates-on-face-the-nation-with-margaret-brennan-may-17-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Transcript: Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” May 17, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The following is the transcript of the interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on May 17, 2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: \u00a0Mr. Secretary, if you’re ready, we’ll dive right in.<\/p>\n

FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES: \u00a0Absolutely.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: \u00a0So it’s great to be back here with you, but there’s a lot going on in the world. You said in December we’re living in perhaps one of the most, if not the most, dangerous periods in our modern American history. Why do you feel that way?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: \u00a0For the first time in our history, we face nuclear-armed adversaries in both Europe and Asia. When China finishes their strategic nuclear modernization, China and Russia together will have nearly twice as many strategic nuclear warheads deployed as we do. We have never faced a country, at least- at least since the British Empire, that had greater manufacturing and industrial capacity than the United States. We have not faced a country that was as technologically advanced as we are, ahead of us in a few areas, behind us in a few areas, pretty much even with us in a few others. So we face an adversary that is more powerful and- and has more non-military instruments of power than- than any adversary we’ve faced, certainly than the Soviet Union. So whether it’s strategic communications or development assistance or trade or whatever, the Chinese are all over the world dealing with these things, so I think if you take all those things together and- and- and the nature of the two regimes, this is a very, very perilous time.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: The two regimes, Russia and China–<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Right.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: The chief adversaries, in your view, of the United States.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Yeah.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, President Trump was in China, standing across from Xi Jinping, and he referred, almost jokingly, to the grouping as the new G2. He seemed to mean the two global powers. Do you think that the U.S. and China are on equal footing? Is that how you would describe it?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: \u00a0I don’t think so yet. I think China is a- you know, the military refers to China as a near peer, and I think our- right now our military power is greater than theirs, although they’re catching up and certainly ahead of us in terms of ship building and so on. But we- that we still have a lead economically, we still have a lead technologically, and, and I think- I think, you know, we have our own problems here at home, but the Chinese have some real problems as well, domestically, in terms of their economy and demography, and so on. So, you know, they’re- they’re approaching our level of power, but- but I think they’re not there yet.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: But the meeting itself seemed to be the message between President Xi and Trump. There weren’t a lot of, as they call it, deliverables coming out of this summit. There was an announcement of working groups to study artificial intelligence and talk about tariffs. What do you think was accomplished?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: \u00a0I think that the main objective for the administration, for the president, probably was simply to keep a lid on the relationship, to keep a floor under it so it doesn’t deteriorate, to continue the trade truce that has existed for about a year now. We’re still batting back and forth various measures against each other, but by and large the trade truce has- has been sustained. And- and so I think avoiding a re-escalation of the economic conflict between the two. I think putting this floor under the relationship, keeping it on even keel, probably was the primary objective of both sides, frankly.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: \u00a0Certainly, for the business community, that was their concern.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: And- and if they- if we can get some greater business opportunities, of course, take advantage of that, and we’ll see what happens.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, Xi Jinping’s language in that public statement that was released by his government was very strong on Taiwan. China considers it a core issue, as they described it. The U.S. still officially has this stance of strategic ambiguity, but do you think the tone needs to shift a little bit from the United States, given how strong the Chinese rhetoric is now?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: \u00a0I think the Chinese rhetoric has often been strong in the past when it comes to Taiwan. Whenever we’ve made an arms sales to Taiwan in the past, the Bush administration, Obama administration, and so on, the Chinese rhetoric gets very, very strong. So I think- I think Xi was reiterating the Chinese position on that. I think it would be a mistake to change the carefully worded position of the United States with respect to Taiwan. Any change at all, the nuances- this is one of those things where the experts parse these things down to the tense of the verbs, and so on. So, I think- I think keeping things, the U.S. position as it has been was important, and I think everything I’ve read so far indicates that the President did that.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: So, leave it open to question whether the U.S. would militarily come to the defense of Taiwan if China were to move on it–<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Yes.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: –that needs to be an open question. Well, on paper, the president has made significant pledges to Taiwan in terms of promised arms sales, not delivered on yet. There’s another $14 billion in proposed weapon sales that the Trump administration has delayed approving. Do you think the president should green light that?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: I think he should. I think we should go forward with what- with what we’ve agreed with Taiwan. One of the concerns that I have is even with respect to previous arms sales, there is a huge backlog of weapons that we have sold to Taiwan that we have not been able to deliver because we don’t have the supplies, and so if you’re offering another 14 billion, is that just going to be added to the backlog, or is there a way forward in terms of actually getting these weapons to the Taiwanese? I think one of the- an important thing that has happened in recent years is getting the Taiwanese to focus on purchasing the kinds of weapons that would be necessary to defend themselves against a Chinese amphibious invasion. In the past, they wanted the kinds of high-end weapons that would enable them to retake the mainland. Well, that’s never going to happen. And- and so getting the, the old Chinese- \u00a0the old Taiwanese generals to adapt their thinking to the kinds of weapons that the Ukrainians, for example, have been using, and so on.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: — The HIMARS, the THADDS–<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: It has been an achievement, and, and the Taiwanese legislature has just finally reached an agreement to fund the purchase of these weapons, so I think- I think we should go forward with it. It is in our own way our counter to President Xi’s strong statement. Yes, you have your position, we have ours.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you talk about the demand for weapons. There’s a bigger problem with supply and readiness and access to them right now. A retired colonel in China’s People’s Liberation Army was recently quoted in the New York Times saying the depletion of US stockpiles has “significantly diminished the US military’s ability to project its combat power.” They’re looking at what’s being used in Iran and Ukraine. I know Admiral Paparo, the head of Pacific Command, has said he doesn’t see any real costs on our ability to deter China, but isn’t that pretty time dependent? It’s fairly well reported and established that there is a lag in terms of replenishing American weapons stockpiles. Isn’t that a problem?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: It is a problem, and I, and I think I think this administration, especially, has- has been very aggressive in working with the Congress in trying to expand our defense industries and bring new companies into the defense industrial mix that can produce the kinds of numbers of these weapons that are necessary. I’ve read that Ukraine is going to produce 7 million drones next year, or over the next year. We need that kind of capacity in the United States, and so, but it’s a matter of getting the factories built, expanding factories. Part of the problem in Washington is you get all the right rhetoric about increasing our ability to produce these weapons, but the money is slow to come, and it’s unpredictable, and so what’s needed is- is accelerated action in actually starting to get these factories built and expand these capabilities.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: But when you compare it to Ukraine, that’s a wartime economy, that’s an emergency they’re responding to. You’re saying we need to act like it is here?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Absolutely, absolutely. We do need to replenish, and I would say that I’m well aware- well away from it now, but based on everything I’ve seen, I think that where we have the real shortfalls are in presided- precision-guided munitions, but also defensive missiles like Patriots, the THAAD missiles, and the Navy’s Standard Missile-3 that are our most effective, although very expensive air and missile defense systems, and those are the ones that have been expended especially.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: Recently?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Yes.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: Secretary Rubio did tell another network, though, that his belief is that China’s preference is to have Taiwan willingly join the People’s Republic. Do you expect that to be the more likely scenario that there is sort of a slow strangulation of Taiwanese democracy by the Communist party?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Let me put it this way, I think- I think the chances of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan are pretty low, particularly over the next several years, and partly because Xi has other- other options open to him that include- that involve far less risk. So, they have surrounded Taiwan with ships, and in the air. They have shown their ability to close off maritime and air access to the island. They could create a blockade or a quarantine around Taiwan anytime they wanted, what the Taiwanese call an anaconda strategy, and it would strangle Taiwan over time. I don’t think they want to go in and attack Taiwan. They don’t want to destroy the very chip factories they want to take over. So, and then there’s- there’s cyber, there are all kinds of pressures. I also think that the Chinese are hoping that over time the Kuomintang, KMT, which has been more friendly toward China, will be a vehicle that will allow them over time to get more and more influence in Taiwan and maybe have some kind of a Hong Kong style transition over a period of time. I think- think that the Chinese would far prefer that kind of, if you will, takeover of Taiwan than all the risks inherent in a military invasion. There isn’t one single Chinese general or admiral today that has one day of combat experience. The last time these guys fought was 1979 and the North Vietnamese- the Vietnamese gave them a bloody nose. Xi has fired- has fired all these generals. He’s- there are now no generals left on the Central Military Commission that kind of oversees the whole thing. He’s fired- and they’re slated for execution his last two defense ministers. So this is not an outfit that I think he has enormous confidence in right now, and there- he’s been fighting against corruption in their military ever since he became president of China. So I’m not sure that he thinks his military is the greatest in the world.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: Or he’s threatened by them.<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES: Yeah.<\/p>\n

MARGARET BRENNAN: Let me ask you about what’s happening in the Middle East. The last time we spoke, last spring, we were just weeks away from that US-Israeli strike on the three nuclear sites in Iran. You said at that time, it was May, when you were Defense Secretary, you were concerned that a strike on the nuclear program would just buy time, a year or two, but it would not solve the problem. Do you still believe that?<\/p>\n

SECRETARY GATES:…<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

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The following is the transcript of the interview with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on May 17, 2026. MARGARET BRENNAN: \u00a0Mr. Secretary, if you’re ready, we’ll dive right in. FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES: \u00a0Absolutely. 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