Ambassador Says Trump Offered to Sell Arms to Xi. White House Says No Such Offer Exists.

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue told Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday" that President Trump asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping directly whether he'd like to buy American weapons. The remark came during an interview aired Sunday, Sept. 27, days after Xi wrapped up his first state visit to the U.S. in more than a decade.

"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."

Perdue framed the comment as Trump's way of downplaying U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, not as a formal proposal. Bream had pressed Perdue on whether Washington was slow-walking weapons to Taiwan to keep Xi happy, an accusation the ambassador rejected outright, saying Trump "is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody."

The White House pushed back hard on the idea that any real offer is on the table. Officials told the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. has no plans to sell arms to China. The State Department went further in a statement to the Times: "U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China."

China's government didn't confirm or deny Perdue's account. Foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Monday only that China "has always strengthened its national defense capabilities based on its own needs" and remains "committed to maintaining world peace and stability," according to the Associated Press.

The Taiwan Sale Still Isn't Signed

While Perdue downplayed the arms-to-China talk, a $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan has sat on Trump's desk since it was paused after his May summit with Xi in Beijing, where Trump himself called the sale a "very good negotiating chip."

Asked Friday on Fox's "America's Newsroom" when that sale would finally get signed, Perdue told co-host Bill Hemmer, "We don't know. President Trump has a schedule of his own," according to Breitbart's transcript of the interview.

Perdue did note the U.S. approved an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December, which he said made Trump's administration responsible for selling "50% more arms to Taiwan than any other president since 1979." He insisted there's been no change to the U.S. One China Policy, the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Communiqués, or the Six Assurances.

Trump's ambassador says Taiwan policy hasn't budged, while a $14 billion package requested by Taiwan's government remains frozen with no signing date, five months after it was paused. Republican and Democratic lawmakers have both raised concerns about the delay, according to Bream's questioning on Fox News Sunday, though no specific senator or representative was named in that segment.

What Else Came Out of the Summit

Xi's Sept. 24-25 visit also touched Iran. Perdue told CNBC, as reported by the Epoch Times, that Trump warned Xi any Chinese support for Iran, whether direct or indirect, including intelligence, parts, or military equipment, is "unacceptable." Perdue said Beijing has shown signs of listening: "They pulled some things down, and we have evidence that they pay attention when President Trump talks about this particular issue."

The summit itself was tightly managed by Chinese officials. There was no joint press conference, and journalists weren't allowed into the Oval Office to question Xi directly, according to the Epoch Times. When American reporters unexpectedly encountered Xi during a White House tour and asked about jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, Xi stayed silent and Trump cut in to say the two leaders "had a great meeting."

Trump and Xi confirmed they'll meet twice more before year's end: at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, and at the G20 forum at Trump's Doral resort in Miami in December, according to both the Hill and Channel NewsAsia.

A Separate Concern: China's Nuclear Buildup

Ahead of the summit, satellite image analysis published by The Telegraph and cited by the Daily Wire found active construction at seven Chinese nuclear-related sites, including Lop Nur and Jiuquan, with land cleared for laser testing facilities. China currently holds roughly 600 nuclear warheads, far behind the U.S.'s estimated 5,300 and Russia's 5,500, though Beijing's arsenal has more than doubled under Xi.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Thomas DiNanno has previously accused China of concealing nuclear testing through seismic "decoupling" techniques. China's ambassador Shen Jian rejected that, calling the U.S. "the culprit for the aggravation of the arms race." There's no indication from any source that nuclear weapons came up in the Trump-Xi meetings. Trump told reporters at the National Archives only that AI, which he now calls "super intelligence," was on the agenda alongside Iran.

None of the sources indicate a joint statement or written agreement came out of the summit on any of these fronts. The unresolved question heading into the November and December meetings is whether the $14 billion Taiwan sale ever gets signed, and if it doesn't, whether that reflects a negotiating tactic with Beijing or a genuine policy shift Perdue says hasn't happened.