President Donald Trump on Monday was directly asked about his offer to sell arms to China in his recent meetings with President Xi Jinping.
It was reported over the weekend that David Perdue, U.S. Ambassador to China, said Trump made the suggestion during one of his meetings with the Chinese president.
The Associated Press called it "an unlikely offer that if consummated would upend generations of U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan and expose U.S. technology to a potential foe."
Speaking to "Fox News Sunday," Perdue didn’t say exactly when during the visit Trump made the officer, only that one was made.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department tried to distance itself from Perdue's comment, releasing a statement saying, “U.S. law prohibits arms sales to China and there is no offer or plan to sell arms to China.”
According to Perdue, Trump was downplaying the U.S. relationship with Taiwan, which includes arms sales. The comments shocked both sides of the political aisle.
When Shannon Bream spoke with Perdue, she cited some of those concerns because aid packages that included weapons for Taiwan have been delayed despite continued threats from China to invade the island. She was curious if the U.S. was intentionally delaying the arms because it was attempting to do a deal with China or because the U.S. knew that the Xi meeting was coming up.
Perdue made it clear he was speaking specifically about selling arms to China.
Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody” Perdue told her, noting that he has already sold plenty of weapons. The two men, Perdue said, spoke extensively about U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan throughout the visit.
“But 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.”
Trump was asked about it in the Oval Office during a press availability on Monday, with a reporter citing Perdue's comments specifically.
"I never heard of that one," Trump said. He attempted to correct the reporter, saying, "To Taiwan?" But the reporter specified that Perdue said China specifically.
"I going to have to ask him you mean — you mean we're gonna sell — now, they probably like to buy it, because we do make better equipment, and so maybe it's a good idea," he said. "But, uh, we didn't discuss it. He may have been talkin' about Taiwan. I think he was probably talking about Taiwan."
