US ambassador says Trump asked Xi whether China wanted to buy American weapons

US ambassador to China David Perdue said President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether China wanted to buy American weapons. The remark has drawn attention because US officials say there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China, while a proposed $14 billion US arms package for Taiwan remains under review.

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Perdue said: ‘President Trump continues to say, hey, we sell arms to other people around the world. He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some at one point.’ Perdue did not say when the question was asked, identify any weapons or describe Xi’s response. His account of the conversation has not been independently confirmed in the public record reviewed for this report.

What Washington says

The Guardian reported that the White House told the New York Times the United States had no plans to sell arms to China. The State Department said US law prohibits arms sales to China and that there was ‘no offer or plan’ to do so. Those statements set out the administration’s position on a sale; they do not establish whether Trump asked the conversational question Perdue described.

The current US export regulation lists China among destinations subject to a policy of denial for exports, reexports, retransfers and temporary imports of defense articles and services, with specified exceptions. Perdue’s account therefore should not be read as an announced change in US arms export policy. No such change appears in the official material cited here.

A summit with Taiwan in the background

In its account of the summit, the White House described trade and investment talks, discussions of Iran and international waterways, and Trump’s advocacy of arms control negotiations involving the United States, China and Russia. Its September 25 fact sheet did not mention Taiwan or a proposed weapons sale to China. The fact sheet also did not link its account of the talks to Perdue’s later remark.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Xi had urged Washington during the closed-door meeting to oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ and handle the Taiwan question prudently, CNA reported. The White House’s public account did not include that request. The difference between the two accounts leaves the precise Taiwan discussion at the summit unclear to readers relying on the published statements.

Taiwan awaits an arms decision

A separate proposed $14 billion US arms package for Taiwan remains under Trump administration review, CNA reported. Lawmakers from both US parties and officials in Taipei have urged the sale to proceed. Its timing has become a significant question as Washington and Beijing continue their talks; no approval date has been announced in the reporting cited here.

Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister, Chen Ming-chi, told reporters on September 27 that he understood Trump’s comments on Taiwan in context and had received repeated assurances that US policy toward the island had not changed. He acknowledged that Trump had spoken vaguely and said Taipei would continue using its channels with Washington to learn more about what the leaders discussed.

Chen said Washington had not endorsed Beijing’s call for the United States to explicitly oppose Taiwan independence. Taiwan’s foreign ministry separately said the summit focused mainly on economic and trade issues and that there was no need for Taiwan to be discussed in US-China talks. Those statements describe Taipei’s assessment; they do not provide a full account of the leaders’ private exchange.

What remains unsettled

CNA interviewed Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute, who said he doubted the package would be approved before further Trump-Xi meetings and thought a decision might wait until 2027. CNA also quoted Hudson Institute fellow Ken Moriyasu describing Taiwan arms sales as potential leverage in dealings with Xi and suggesting approval could come in December or later. These are analysts’ assessments, not an administration timetable.

CNA reported that Trump said the two leaders planned to meet again in China in November and at the G20 summit in Miami in December. For now, Perdue’s account establishes what the ambassador said publicly, while the administration’s response establishes that it has announced no offer or plan to sell weapons to China. Whether Trump asked Xi the question as described, and when Washington will decide on Taiwan’s pending package, remain unresolved.