Trump asked Xi — Former U.S. President Donald Trump once asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping if China wanted to purchase weapons from the United States, according to a revelation by the American ambassador to China. The reported conversation, which occurred while the Trump administration was defending a separate major arms sale to Taiwan, highlights the complex and often transactional nature of U.S.-China relations.

The U.S. ambassador to China disclosed the exchange during a public discussion. He stated that Trump, while negotiating a multibillion-dollar arms package for Taiwan—a self-governed island Beijing claims as its own—directly posed the question to Xi.

The ambassador’s account suggests Trump viewed the relationship in stark commercial terms, potentially offering Beijing a stake in American defense technology even as his administration supported arming Taiwan. This approach underscores a significant policy tension between lucrative trade and fundamental security commitments in the Indo-Pacific.