Trump to Decide on Taiwan Arms Sale Amid Upcoming China Trip

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Feb 18, 2026 - 10:52 Updated: Feb 18, 2026 - 01:39
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Trump to Decide on Taiwan Arms Sale Amid Upcoming China Trip

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 16 that he discussed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and would soon make a decision on whether to meet Beijing’s demand to halt them.

Trump said he spoke with Xi about the matter and they maintain a good relationship despite some differences, adding that he expects to visit China in April for talks with the Chinese leader.

“I’m talking to him about it. We had a good conversation, and we’ll make a determination pretty soon,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One, without elaborating further.

The two leaders spoke by phone on Feb. 4, during which Xi told Trump the Taiwan issue remains the most sensitive in U.S.–China relations and urged him “to handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence.”

According to a readout of the Feb. 4 phone call published on China’s foreign ministry website, Xi reiterated the Chinese regime’s territorial claim on Taiwan.

Beijing has repeatedly demanded that the United States not sell weapons to the self-ruled island, over which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims sovereignty.

Xi said that “mutual trust” is key to improving the bilateral relations with the United States and called for a “win-win cooperation” with the Trump administration, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

In a social media post, Trump described the phone call with Xi as “long and thorough,” saying it covered many important topics, including the Taiwan issue and his planned trip to Beijing.

“The relationship with China, and my personal relationship with President Xi, is an extremely good one, and we both realize how important it is to keep it that way,” he said in a Feb. 4 post to Truth Social.

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A low-cost autonomous cruise missile, the Barracuda 500, jointly manufactured by Anduril and Taiwan's National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, is displayed during the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE) at Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sept. 20, 2025. Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo
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Washington in December approved an $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan, the largest weapons package ever proposed for the island and the second deal under the current Trump administration, following a $330 million arms sale in November 2025 for spare and repair parts for Taiwan’s aircraft fleet.

The latest approved sale covers a wide range of items, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, self-propelled howitzers, two different Altius loitering munition drones, Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-armor missiles, AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts, and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles.

Just days after the U.S. announcement, the CCP staged massive live-fire military drills around Taiwan involving large numbers of fighter aircraft and naval vessels.

The Chinese military said the drills were meant to serve as a “serious warning” against what it called “Taiwan Independence” separatist forces.

The CCP, which has never ruled Taiwan, considers the self-governed island to be a renegade province and has never ruled out the possibility of using force to seize it. Taiwan has repeatedly rejected those claims.
Washington opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, but is required by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
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Frank Fang contributed to this report.
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