President Donald Trump declined to approve more than $400 million in military aid to Taiwan this summer, as he tries to negotiate a trade deal and potential summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to five people familiar with the matter.
The decision, which may still be reversed, marks a U-turn in U.S. policy toward the self-governing island that China claims as its own territory, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Two people familiar with the matter said the package was worth more than $400 million and would have been “more lethal” than past rounds of aid to Taiwan, including munitions and autonomous drones.
In a statement, a White House official said the decision on the aid package had not yet been finalized. Taiwan’s unofficial embassy in Washington declined to comment.
The Trump administration has broadly tempered U.S. competition with China in an effort to reach a wide-reaching trade deal with Beijing — easing export controls on high-end semiconductors and declining to enforce a congressional ban on the social media app TikTok. Some of the concessions have alarmed members of the first Trump administration and Republican lawmakers, who have also voiced concerns about insufficient support for Taiwan’s overstretched defenses.
This week, the administration informally alerted Congress of a potential $500 million arms sale to Taiwan, according to a congressional aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and declined to specify the equipment being purchased.
Posted by John3262005