I would absolutely not trust us to provide any protection, even IF they fold to the demand. The smart play here is to call the bluff. Because it is a bluff.

Remove the only reason we agreed to protect you or we won't protect you... FFS America would you please remove this party of morons from power already?

And after you move here you will still lose protection, because that's exactly what "America First" entails

Just give up your nukes and we will protect you.

And once production is moved lose it anyway.

As opposed to what? Losing Taiwan to China and thus a 100% loss for the US?

They should just play it like FoxCon did in WI. Many loud words and big promises. Got what they wanted and never actually did much of anything. Capitalist chefs kiss. Not like Donnie is going to care for 10 seconds after the speech is made.

Stay with me here for a minute... Consider that instead, they could be granted Federal subsidies to expand their production of chips within mainland USA, instead of moving it from Taiwan to the U.S. This is, of course, assuming a sensible Presidential administration with non-insane, asinine policies which would encourage foreign investment and guaranteed the safety of said foreign labour advisors to train American operators and technicians from ICE (South Koreans apparently very unimpressed with their arrest and deportation despite valid work permits).

TSMC and Taiwan have all the leverage. If China invaded Taiwan, the US would be fucked and semiconductor supply cripple the states, and all the stuff Trump is investing personal money in (crypto, AI, etc)

If the US wants a robust semiconductor industry, they should break Intel’s chip design and fab into two separate companies, and lean into more chip-act type investments.

Why would Donnie protect Taiwan if he already has 50% of the chip production on-shore? Having 50% likely means having a completely Taiwan-independent supply chain. I feel like the only thing Donnie would achieve by pressing this issue is Taiwan's people shifting towards negotiations with PRC.

If the Taiwanese feel there's no deterrent against invasion on their side, then they'd feel there's little to stop China from taking them over over when they decide to. Then the question becomes how would that takeover look like. Violent, non-violent, autonomy, no autonomy, and so on. Getting a good deal becomes less likely as time goes by and China catches up on the high tech front. So they'd prolly go for it sooner rather than later. Donnie can't help himself from helping his sworn enemies can he.

And then get attacked when they are in the US building the manufacturing plants and training Americans on how to do it.

As ever, Trump and his pals are bloody stupid. Money is just to make it easier to get cool stuff. You don't get neat things when civilizations die, and partnerships are dissolved.

Considering China is about to take the whole island by force, it’s in their best interest to move anyway. Sadly, that won’t include any of the Taiwanese people who don’t want China destroying their country.