TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Office of the President on Thursday (Nov. 7) denied reports that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) plans to call US President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election win. 

On Wednesday (Nov. 6), Bloomberg cited sources as saying that Lai is considering emulating former President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) historic phone call with Trump in 2016. 

Presidential Spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) responded by saying Lai asked the Taiwan representative office in the US to send a congratulatory letter to Trump but had not sought arrangements for a phone call, per CNA.

Sources added it was unclear whether Trump would answer the call. In addition, given that Tsai's phone call with Trump did not occur until about a month after he was elected, such a call would be “unlikely to happen soon.”

Kuo said the media should have fact-checked with the Office of the President before publishing the report.