President says David Perdue may have been referring to Taiwan as Washington distances itself from reports of possible weapons sales to Beijing
Washington, Sept 2026 : US President Donald Trump has denied discussing the sale of American military equipment to China during his recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, contradicting an account given by US Ambassador to China David Perdue in a television interview.
Trump was asked at the White House whether he had suggested to Xi that China could purchase US military equipment. The question referred to comments Perdue made on Fox News Sunday, in which the ambassador said Trump had at one point asked the Chinese president whether he would like to buy American arms.
Trump appeared surprised by the question and initially sought clarification.
“To China?” he asked, before adding, “You mean to Taiwan?” When the reporter confirmed that Perdue had referred to China, Trump said he had not heard of such an exchange and would have to ask the ambassador about it.
Trump then said China might be interested in American military equipment but stressed that no such discussion had taken place with Xi.
“They’d probably like to buy it because we do make better equipment than that, so maybe it’s a good idea, but we didn’t discuss it,” Trump said.
He subsequently suggested that Perdue may have been referring to Taiwan rather than China, adding that he believed that was probably what the ambassador meant.
The State Department has also sought to distance the administration from any suggestion that Washington is preparing to sell weapons to Beijing. A US official said US law prohibits arms sales to China and that there was no offer or plan for such a sale.
Perdue’s remarks came during a discussion about US military support for Taiwan. Speaking to Fox News host Shannon Bream, the ambassador said Trump had been explaining to Xi that the United States sells weapons to countries around the world. Perdue said Trump had at one point asked Xi whether China wanted to buy some. He did not specify when the alleged exchange took place.
The comments attracted attention because US arms sales to Taiwan have long been a major source of tension between Washington and Beijing. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly opposed US military support for the island.
The Trump administration has also been dealing with questions over a proposed $14 billion US weapons package for Taiwan. The package was paused following an earlier Trump-Xi meeting, with Trump describing arms sales to Taiwan as a potential negotiating tool in discussions with Beijing.
Against this backdrop, Perdue’s comments suggested that Trump had attempted to present US arms sales as a broader commercial practice rather than an action directed specifically at China or Taiwan. However, Trump’s latest remarks indicate that no arms sale to China was discussed during his recent meeting with Xi.
Trump separately praised his recent talks with the Chinese president, describing the meeting as highly successful and saying he rated it “a 12” on a scale of zero to 10. He characterised the discussions as respectful but did not provide details suggesting that military equipment sales to China had formed part of the agenda.
The issue also emerged during an event at which Trump promoted a proposed major steel investment in Iowa. He argued that the United States should maintain sufficient domestic production of strategic materials needed for defence equipment, including aircraft and tanks.
Trump questioned whether the US could rely on China for steel required for military production before turning to his positive assessment of the Xi meeting.
The contrasting accounts have left the exact circumstances of Perdue’s remarks unclear. For now, Trump has publicly stated that he did not discuss selling US military equipment to Xi, while the ambassador has described a conversation in which the president allegedly raised the possibility of China purchasing American arms. No sale or formal proposal to China has been announced.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
