Trump says Perdue 'was probably talking about Taiwan' in saying Trump offered Xi arms sales

President Donald Trump denied having asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping whether Beijing wanted to buy American weapons, undercutting a description offered by U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue. Questioned on Monday, Trump first appeared puzzled and asked whether the reporter meant Taiwan. He then speculated that China would likely be interested in U.S. equipment, calling it superior, and allowed that "maybe it's a good idea," while insisting the topic never came up, according to PBS NewsHour.

Perdue had told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream that Trump, when defending arms sales to Taiwan, pointed out that Washington sells weapons worldwide and at one point asked Xi if he wanted some. The State Department moved to separate the administration from the remark, stating that no sale to China is planned and that federal law forbids one. Beijing's foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun declined to verify Perdue's version, saying only that China builds up its defenses according to its needs.

Evan Sankey of the Cato Institute said the last U.S. arms sales to Beijing came in the 1980s and a revival would be "a shocking policy change." Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies described Trump as viewing weapons, tariffs and market access as leverage. The dispute follows Xi's state visit to Washington last week, where Trump seemed to gain little, and a May Beijing meeting after which the U.S. put on hold a $14 billion Taiwan arms package, the largest on record.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →