Trump asked Xi to buy US arms, ambassador says
US Ambassador to China David Perdue said the president has raised the idea of selling American weapons to Beijing during recent talks with Xi Jinping.
US President Donald Trump has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether Xi would like to buy American weapons, the US ambassador to China has said.
David Perdue told Fox News that 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 there were “continuing conversations about other sales”, adding that Trump and Xi “talk about that every time they get together”.
The ambassador did not specify when the offer was made, but said it followed Xi’s recent state visit to Washington.
The United States has maintained an arms embargo against China for decades, and any sale of American weapons to Beijing would mark a sharp reversal of longstanding US policy.
The idea comes against the backdrop of continuing US arms sales to Taiwan, which Washington is required by law to supply with weapons for its defence.
In December 2025, the US approved an $11.1bn arms package for Taiwan, described at the time as the largest such package since 1979.
During Xi’s visit to Washington, the Chinese leader repeated warnings over Taiwan and pressed the US to explicitly oppose the island’s independence, according to Perdue.
China has previously warned Taiwan that seeking independence “by relying on the United States or through military means is a dead end”.
Perdue gave no indication of how Xi responded to the offer to buy US arms.