President Trump’s Proposal to Sell Weapons to China Publicized, White House Denies Claim

David Perdue, the US Ambassador to China, revealed that President Donald Trump had proposed selling American weapons to Chinese President Xi Jinping during Xi’s recent visit to Washington last week. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Ambassador Perdue detailed the discussions between Trump and Xi, stating, “During the conversation with President Xi, Trump mentioned that many countries around the world purchase American weapons and asked, ‘Would China be interested in buying some weapons from the US?’”
However, following Perdue’s statement, both the White House and the US State Department promptly denied the claim. The White House clarified that there are no plans to sell arms to China, while the State Department emphasized strict legal restrictions on arms sales to China under US law and confirmed that no such proposal or plan exists.
Perdue’s disclosure has reignited discussions about US military relations with Taiwan. Under US law, supplying Taiwan with arms for self-defense is mandatory. In December, Trump approved an arms sale to Taiwan valued at $1.11 billion but halted another $1.4 billion arms agreement, which he described as “a major stumbling block in talks with China.”
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly threatened to use military force to assert control. This stance has led to strong Chinese objections to US arms sales to Taiwan. While the US has long maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding whether it would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, it is legally obligated under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with sufficient military equipment. Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi has expressed hope that the US understands Taiwan’s security needs amid increasing challenges in the Taiwan Strait.
US law imposes a complete ban on selling military arms to China. Following the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, then-President George H.W. Bush imposed a ban on exports of weapons and military materials to China. In February 1990, the US Congress codified this ban into permanent law. Under this legislation, defense materials, military services, law enforcement equipment, and certain satellites listed on the US Munitions List cannot be exported to China.
According to the latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US remains the world’s largest arms exporter. Between 2020 and 2024, the US accounted for 43 percent of global arms exports—four times the share of the second-largest exporter, France. Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, two-thirds of all arms imports by European NATO countries have been American-made. Notably, during this period, Europe has surpassed the Middle East as the primary market for US weapons for the first time in two decades.