President Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether he would be interested in buying American weapons during their recent talks in Washington, according to U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, though Trump denied it Monday.
“President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world,’” Perdue told Fox News’ Shannon Bream. “He actually asked President Xi if he would like to buy some, at one point.”
Perdue made the remark after Bream asked whether the administration was delaying weapons sales to Taiwan to appease Xi. Perdue said Trump has framed Taiwan sales as just one of many U.S. arms deals around the world.
Trump denied the account on Monday.
“I never heard of that one,” he told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that China would “probably like to buy it” but that “we didn’t discuss” it. He suggested Perdue “may have been talking about Taiwan.”
A White House official told The Daily Wire that “the United States had no plans to sell arms to China.” The State Department said, “U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”
China’s foreign ministry said the country has “always strengthened its national defense capabilities based on its own needs, and remains committed to maintaining world peace and stability,” but did not directly address whether Beijing would consider purchasing American weapons.
Trump and Xi announced plans to meet two more times before the end of the year. The White House visit was Xi’s first in more than a decade, following his last visit during former President Barack Obama’s administration.
The meeting took place as tensions over trade negotiations have resulted in higher tariffs on each other’s goods, as well as competition to develop advanced artificial intelligence.
The prospect of selling American weapons to Beijing also comes amid a debate in Washington over whether China should have access to advanced American AI chips. The Commerce Department restricts companies such as Nvidia from exporting certain chips to China.
“What we ship to China is complicated,” former Trump AI czar David Sacks said last year while discussing the issue. “I don’t think you want to sell China our latest and greatest chips because it would be too much of an advantage for them,” he said, while cautioning against cutting China off entirely.
Trump appeared to have been pleased with the meeting with President Xi.
“Very productive meeting with President Xi for both the U.S.A. and China. Tremendous things will be happening,” he said. “The meeting was one of friendship, strength, and success, for both China and the U.S.A. We will be meeting again in November, in China, and then at the G20 in December, in Miami, Florida. Much has been, and will be, accomplished. I look forward to our next meeting,” he added.
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