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Trump denies offering to sell China weapons, adds 'maybe it's a good idea'

By
FOX Local
Politics
Published September 28, 2026 8:46 PM CDT
Published September 28, 2026 8:46 PM CDT
article

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak during a state dinner in the East Room of the White House on September 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Brief

    • President Donald Trump responded to a claim that he mentioned selling weapons to China during his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
    • Ambassador to China David Perdue said the president made the comment while discussing arms deals between the U.S. and Taiwan.
    • Trump suggested that his ambassador may have been confusing China and Taiwan.

President Donald Trump contradicted a claim made by one of his ambassadors that he asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if Beijing wanted to buy U.S. weapons during last week’s meeting between the two world leaders. 

The backstory:

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told Fox News Channel’s Shannon Bream that Trump was downplaying U.S. arms sales to Taiwan by saying that Washington makes similar deals with other nations. According to Perdue, Trump went on to ask Xi if he would like to buy U.S. weapons. 

The State Department released a statement on Monday noting that the U.S. is barred by law from selling weapons to China. 

What they're saying:

When reporters asked Trump about Perdue’s comments, the president suggested that his ambassador may have been confusing China and Taiwan and said, "I never heard of that one. I’m going to have to ask him."

Trump went on to state that U.S. weaponry was better than what China had, adding, "So maybe it’s a good idea. But we didn’t discuss it. He may have been talking about Taiwan. I think he was probably talking about Taiwan."

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Dig deeper:

Perdue’s comments came after Bream asked about criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers over delays in aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan. The Fox News host asked if the delays were to appease China.

The ambassador responded that Trump "is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody," and pointed out that the U.S. has made sales to Taipei. Perdue acknowledged that Trump and Xi did discuss future arms sales to Taiwan.

"But President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,’" Perdue said. "He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point."

The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.




 

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