Congressmen are urging President Trump to proceed with an approved but long-stalled arms sale to Taipei.
In February, The New York Times reported that “Taiwan Arms Sale Approved by Congress Is Delayed as Trump Plans Visit to Beijing” (February 27, 2026). “The package worth billions of dollars and endorsed by lawmakers is stalled at the State Department as the U.S. and China plan an April summit.”
The weapons sale, which includes air-defense missiles, is in an advanced stage. Senior Republican and Democratic lawmakers approved the package after the State Department sent it to them in January for informal review.
However, since then, the sales package has languished in the State Department, the officials said. Administration officials have told some involved in the approval of the sale that the White House ordered agencies not to move forward to ensure that Mr. Trump has a successful summit with Mr. Xi, one official said….
On Feb. 16, Mr. Trump told reporters that he was considering what to do about arms sales to Taiwan, given that Mr. Xi opposes them.
“I’m talking to him about it,” he said aboard Air Force One.
Now (May 11), on the verge of the delayed meeting in Beijing, the Times reports that lawmakers are asking the president to stop dithering about the arms sale.
A bipartisan group of senators is pressing President Trump to move ahead with a long-delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, a critical test of the administration’s commitment to the island ahead of Mr. Trump’s meeting with President Xi Jinping of China later this week.
In a letter sent on Friday, the lawmakers urged the president to formally notify Congress of the arms package and argued that Taipei’s recent approval of a new military spending plan removed any remaining rationale for delay. Senior lawmakers offered early approval to the package in January, but it has stalled in the State Department for months, raising broader questions about the administration’s approach to Taiwan and its effort to recalibrate relations with Beijing….
Mr. Trump approved the arms package framework last year, but its formal notification has languished even as China has intensified military pressure around Taiwan and as administration officials have publicly encouraged Taipei to increase its own military spending.
Meanwhile, President Trump is, again, telling reporters that arms sales to Taipei is one of the topics he’s going to be discussing with Xi Jinping when Trump gets to Beijing in a few days. Politico:
U.S. arms sales to Taiwan will be on the agenda in Beijing this week, President Donald Trump told reporters today. That’s raising dread among Taiwan’s supporters that Trump will agree to rethink a foundation of U.S.-Taiwan defense ties in exchange for a successful summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping.
Asked whether the U.S. should keep selling weapons to Taiwan, Trump told reporters, “I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi,” and added, “President Xi would like us not to.” [!]
While there’s little chance that Trump would completely abandon arms sales to Taiwan, simply discussing the topic with Xi would be a deviation from longstanding U.S. policy. The U.S. government pledged to Taiwan in 1982 in a document known as the Six Assurances that the U.S. wouldn’t consult with Beijing on weapons sales to the island.
“Under previous administrations, they certainly would have taken pains to avoid any perception that China was dictating what the United States would or would not provide to Taiwan,” Christine Wormuth, who served as Army secretary under President Joe Biden, told NatSec Daily.
The Chinese Communist Party wants to absorb Taiwan and subject the Taiwanese to its tyranny. Xi would like the ROC to get no further help from the United States in defending itself. What is there to talk about? Why put the Republic of China on the negotiating table?
Even if Trump is playing footsie with Xi just for the heck of it and has no plans to backstab the Taiwanese, these kinds of games are a lousy idea.
Suppose Trump makes no concessions to Xi about weapons to Taipei and allows the sale to proceed as planned. Doesn’t it take time to complete shipment and set things up in Taiwan? Doesn’t the People’s Republic of China threaten the Republic of China and its people every day? Isn’t time of the essence?
