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Trump denies asking Xi to buy US weapons, contradicting envoy; White House says no such offer
Asked about Ambassador David Perdue's claim in the Oval Office Monday, Trump said "I've never heard of that one"; the White House and State Department said US law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no plan.
Why it matters
The denial caps a messy 24 hours after US Ambassador to China David Perdue told Fox News that Trump had asked Xi Jinping about buying American weapons — while a $14 billion Taiwan arms package still sits on Trump's desk awaiting approval.
Full report
On Monday, Sept. 28, US President Donald Trump denied in the Oval Office that he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether China wanted to buy American weapons. "I've never heard of that one, I'm going to have to ask him," Trump told reporters, adding: "They'd probably like to buy it because we do make better equipment than them, so maybe it's a good idea. But we didn't discuss it."
Perdue said on Fox News Sunday that Trump made the extraordinary offer during Xi's state visit to Washington last week, in response to Chinese concerns over US weapons sales to Taiwan, adding that Trump and Xi discuss arms sales "every time they get together."
White House officials told The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that the US has no plans to sell arms to China. The State Department said in a statement to the Times: "US law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China."
The episode comes as Taiwan waits for Trump to approve a roughly $14 billion US arms package. Trump has previously called the package a "very good negotiating chip" in talks with China. China's Foreign Ministry did not directly address the matter on Sept. 28.
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