Trump asked China’s President if he wants to buy U.S. arms, Ambassador says
US Ambassador to China David Perdue revealed that President Trump lightheartedly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping if China would like to buy US arms while discussing US weapons sales to Taiwan. The unusual remark highlights complex geopolitical dynamics surrounding Taiwan.
Why it matters
US-China relations and arms sales to Taiwan carry massive geopolitical implications for regional stability in East Asia.
President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Mr. Xi if he'd be in the market for U.S. arms, Mr. Trump's Ambassador to China said on Sunday (September 27, 2026).
David Perdue said Mr. Trump raised the prospect of the arms sales from the U.S. to its ascendant geopolitical rival, an unlikely offer that, if consummated, would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose U.S. technology to a potential foe. Mr. Perdue, speaking to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” days after Mr. Trump hosted Mr. Xi for a state visit in Washington, didn't specify when the offer was made.
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