Trump asked Xi Jinping if China wants to buy US weapons, ambassador reveals
US Ambassador to China David Perdue said on Fox News Sunday that President Trump 'at one point' asked Xi Jinping whether he would like to buy American weapons, a claim the White House and State Department moved swiftly to shut down.
President Trump once asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether he would like to buy American weapons, the US ambassador to China, David Perdue, revealed on Sunday.
“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 said on Fox News Sunday, during a discussion of Xi’s three-day state visit to Washington last week. The ambassador gave no further details and did not reveal Xi’s reply.
The admission is extraordinary: China is considered by most US policymakers to be America’s greatest military and diplomatic rival, and US law has prohibited arms sales to Beijing since the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
The White House moved quickly to quash the suggestion. A US official told the Wall Street Journal the administration had no plans to sell weapons to China, while the State Department said in a statement: “US law prohibits arms sales to China, and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”
The remarks surfaced as Perdue defended Trump’s record on Taiwan, pointing out the president approved $11 billion in arms sales to the island in 2025, and saying further sales were being discussed. A reported $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan has languished amid efforts to manage relations with Beijing, drawing criticism from senators including Mitch McConnell.
Perdue also said Xi assured Trump during the visit that Beijing was adjusting its policy on support for Iran: “We see some improvement in that. But it’s an ongoing effort.”
Sources
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