Trump Says Xi and Putin Told Him They Aren't Arming Iran, Even as GOP Lawmaker Says Russia and China Are Helping Tehran

President Trump says he takes Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at their word that China and Russia are not selling weapons to Iran. Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) says the opposite is happening right now.

Both can't be right.

What Trump Said

Trump posted on Truth Social that he warned China and Russia against selling weapons to Iran, then immediately said he doesn't think they're doing it. "Therefore, two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating," Trump wrote, according to Arab News. "If they did, it would be very bad for them, certainly not in their best interests."

Trump said Xi told him directly, when the two met in Beijing in May, that China would not arm Iran "under any circumstances." Trump's response: "considering our relationship, I take him at his word."

He said Putin made a similar promise, despite Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. Trump also defended his own arms sales policy, saying he doesn't sell weapons to Ukraine directly. "I do not sell Weapons to Ukraine, but to NATO Countries. They pay full price, and how those Weapons are distributed, I have no idea," Trump said, according to Arab News.

Arab News reported this comes as Washington is actively investigating whether Moscow and Beijing are feeding Iran targeting information following a string of strikes on U.S. bases. That investigation is separate from the arms-sales question Trump addressed, and it's still open. No conclusion has been announced.

What Perry Said

Rep. Scott Perry told a very different story on Fox Business Network's "The Bottom Line" on Friday. Guest co-host Marcus Lemonis raised China's role first, saying "it doesn't help that China continues to sell them arms, that definitely doesn't help," according to Breitbart.

Perry didn't push back. He went further: "Yes, and Russia helps them continue to target us," Perry said, according to Breitbart's account of the exchange.

Perry made that statement while discussing the broader war involving Iran and the possibility of future U.S. strikes. He argued the U.S. will need more support from partners in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia going forward.

The Contradiction

The sitting president is on record saying he believes, based on personal conversations with Xi and Putin, that neither country is arming Iran. A Republican member of Congress is on record, on a business news network, saying Russia is actively helping Iran target Americans and China is selling Iran arms as a matter of ongoing fact.

Neither Breitbart nor Arab News's coverage puts these two statements side by side. Trump's framing rests on diplomatic assurances from two authoritarian leaders with obvious incentives to tell him what he wants to hear. Perry's framing rests on an assertion with no cited evidence, source, or intelligence attribution in the clip Breitbart aired.

Neither man offered documentation. Trump is relaying private conversations that can't be independently verified. Perry stated a claim as flat fact without citing an intelligence briefing, a specific incident, or any named source. Even if the underlying concern about Chinese and Russian support for Iran is one plenty of national security analysts across both parties have raised for years, his statement lacks foundation.

China has a documented history of purchasing Iranian oil and maintaining trade ties that indirectly prop up Tehran's economy, and Russia has deepened military cooperation with Iran throughout the Ukraine war, including drone technology transfers reported by multiple Western intelligence services in past years. Those are separate, established facts from the specific claim Perry made about active targeting assistance in the current strikes, which remains unverified in the sourcing available.

What's Actually Confirmed

What is confirmed: Washington has an open investigation into whether Russia and China are giving Iran targeting data tied to recent strikes on U.S. bases, according to Arab News. No results from that investigation have been made public. No charges, no formal findings, nothing beyond the fact that the inquiry exists.

Trump's public position is that he trusts Xi and Putin's word over that suspicion, at least for now. Perry's public position is that the help is already happening.

Somebody in Washington needs to explain how the president's own administration is investigating the exact scenario the president says he doesn't believe is happening. Until the investigation Arab News described produces results, or until Perry names a source for his claim, both statements remain unverified assertions from politicians with reasons to spin them their own way.