Four Senate Republicans press for delayed Taiwan arms funding
Trump administration officials told The Wall Street Journal that the United States has no plans to sell weapons to China, walking back comments from U.S. Ambassador David Perdue that President Donald Trump had offered to transfer American arms to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
During a Sunday interview with Fox News about weapons sales to Taiwan, Perdue said “President Trump continues to say: hey, we sell arms to other people around the world” before adding that Trump “actually asked President Xi would he like to buy some at one point.” A U.S. official later told the Journal that the Trump administration has no plans to sell weapons to China, and a second U.S. official said sales of weapons to China are prohibited by law and reiterated that no offers had been made to Beijing.
Perdue did not say whether Trump’s offer to Xi came during last week’s White House meeting between the two leaders or at an earlier encounter. The interview aired after the Trump-Xi summit concluded with both sides pledging to maintain communication and seek further cooperation to avoid conflict.
The denial came as four Senate Republicans pressed the administration to move ahead on a separate $14 billion package of security assistance for Taiwan. McConnell of Kentucky, Murkowski of Alaska, Cornyn of Texas and Tillis of North Carolina wrote ahead of the Trump-Xi summit to Rubio, the secretary of state, and Hegseth, the defense secretary, urging the funding be advanced.
“It is difficult to imagine how the United States might credibly project influence deterrence in the Indo-Pacific if the price of keeping up diplomatic appearances is denying our partners key deterrent capabilities,” the senators wrote.
Asked about that criticism on Fox News, Perdue rejected the premise. “I don’t accept the premise that [Trump is] not doing all that we should be doing for Taiwan,” the ambassador said, adding that Trump had already sold 50 percent more arms to Taiwan than any previous president.
The State Department drew Beijing’s anger in December 2025 when it announced more than $11 billion in potential arms sales to Taiwan, including howitzers, missile launchers and antitank drones. American weapons sales have functioned for years as both a lifeline for Taiwan and a deterrent to China.
Several Republicans last week expressed misgivings about Trump’s decision to host Xi at a White House state dinner. Sen. John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, praised Trump’s willingness to negotiate but described the Chinese leader that way: Xi “thinks he’s on a mission from God except his god is himself,” Kennedy said, before calling Xi “a reptile.”
On the question of longstanding U.S. policy toward Taiwan, Perdue told Fox News that the White House position had not changed. “We don’t support independence, and we don’t support coercion,” he said.
Trump has said he received assurances from Xi that China would not attack Taiwan while Trump remains in office, and has suggested that his personal relationship with the Chinese leader has reduced the threat from Beijing. An annual U.S. intelligence assessment released this year concluded that China does not plan to invade Taiwan in 2027 — a fear many experts and officials had previously expressed — and has not set a fixed timeline for any effort at reunification.