Days after hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit, Trump's ambassador to China said on national television that Trump had asked Xi whether China wanted to buy American weapons. David Perdue made the disclosure on “Fox News Sunday” on September 27, 2026, while defending Trump against the charge that he is holding back arms for Taiwan to please Beijing. “But President Trump continues to say, 'Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,'” Perdue said. “He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point.” He did not say when.
Perdue offered it as evidence that Trump treats Taiwan sales as ordinary business. He said Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody” and, per AFP, “There are continuing conversations about other sales, (Trump) and President Xi talk about that every time they get together.” The context he was answering: after the May summit in Beijing the United States paused a record $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, and Trump called Taiwan arms sales a “very good negotiating chip” with China (see Trump Says He's Unsure About a $14 Billion Taiwan Arms Package After Discussing It 'in Great Detail' With Xi). In their private talks in Washington, Xi pressed Trump to oppose Taiwan independence, according to Chinese state media.
At first the administration did not deny that Trump asked; it denied any plan. The White House told the New York Times the United States had no plans to sell arms to China, and a State Department spokesperson said, “U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.” The law in question, passed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, keeps export licenses for U.S. Munitions List items to China suspended unless the president reports to Congress that ending the suspension is “in the national interest of the United States.” China's foreign ministry did not confirm Perdue's account.
Analysts were blunt. Benedict Rogers of Hong Kong Watch: “If the Ambassador is telling the truth, then this is insane.” Ryan Hass of the Brookings Institution said the offer “will be unsettling to American partners at the pointy edge of China's spear,” adding, “If there was any ambiguity about whether President Trump views China as a security threat, this disclosure by [Perdue] puts the question to rest.”
The same visit carried a different message on Iran. Perdue told CNBC on September 25 that the United States had made clear “that any help that they would give Iran, whether it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment was totally unacceptable. President Trump made that very clear again yesterday.”
Update (September 30, 2026): Trump then disputed his own ambassador. Asked about Perdue's account at the White House on September 28, he said, “To China? You mean to Taiwan?” and, “I never heard of that one. I'm going to have to ask him.” He went on to say China would probably like to buy American equipment, which he called superior, and added: “So maybe it's a good idea. But we didn't discuss it. He may have been talking about Taiwan. I think he was probably talking about Taiwan.” The AP wrote that Trump “acted confused” when asked. Perdue had said on Fox News Sunday that Trump asked Xi directly; the White House has not said whether Trump has since asked him about it. A U.S. official told CNN, “The U.S. government has no plans to sell weapons to China.” China's foreign ministry did not confirm Perdue's remarks. In Taipei, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said of the stalled $14 billion package, “We haven't received any notice of any changes to sales or our cooperation.”