Donald Trump was noncommittal when pressed on whether he would follow through on plans to supply Taiwan with billions of dollars’ worth of arms after crunch talks with China’s President, Xi Jinping.
While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back from the Beijing summit, Trump assured reporters that Xi does not want to start a war with Taiwan and downplayed concerns that the thorny issue of the democratically governed island, which Beijing claims as its own, could even result in a U.S.-China conflict.
When Trump was asked about the $14 billion worth of arms the administration has promised Taiwan amid threats of invasion by China, the president replied: “I’ll make a determination over the next fairly short period.”
When pressed further on whether he will actually follow through with the delivery of arms, Trump added: “I’m going to say I have to speak to the person that’s running Taiwan [Lai Ching-te].”
The issue of Taiwan was one of the biggest topics surrounding Trump’s diplomatic talks with Xi in Beijing this week.
For decades, the U.S. has walked a tightrope of providing political and military support for Taiwan—whose elected government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims—without ever officially treating it as its own country, in order to deter China from invading.
In December 2025, the Trump administration announced more than $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan—the largest ever announced by the U.S.—amid rising fears that China was planning to launch military operations against the island as part of its plans for unification.
However, Trump has yet to formally move forward with the arms sale, which now totals $14 billion.
Trump saying he has not yet decided whether he will provide Taiwan with the munitions comes after Xi warned the president that the U.S. and China “will have clashes and even conflicts” if the issue of Taiwan is not handled properly.
There have long been fears that Trump could soften the U.S. stance on Taiwan to appease Beijing in order to obtain favorable future trade deals.
Jeff Timmer, executive director of anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, suggested while sharing a clip of the president’s comments on the arms deal: “Xi rolled him.”
If there was a deal, Trump did not walk away empty-handed, but even the agreement reached over the planes was smaller than anticipated. The president announced on Air Force One that China will purchase at least 200 Boeing aircraft from the U.S. and that China has committed to buying billions of dollars’ worth of soybeans.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
