President Donald Trump suggested Friday that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan could factor into broader negotiations with China, drawing a swift response from Taiwan’s president and reigniting debate in Washington about the future of longstanding U.S. policy toward the island.

Asked by Fox News whether he would move forward with a delayed $14 billion weapons package for Taiwan, Trump replied: «I’m holding that in abeyance, and it depends on China. It’s a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly. It’s a lot of weapons.» 

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te pushed back hours later, calling U.S. arms sales «the most vital deterrent» to regional conflict and insisting Taiwan «shall never be sacrificed or traded away.»

Trump’s comments came as the administration continues to hold up a $14 billion Taiwan weapons package first approved in principle in late 2025, fueling growing debate in Washington over whether Trump is steering U.S. policy back toward a more traditional form of «strategic ambiguity» — or recasting support for Taiwan through a more openly transactional lens tied to broader negotiations with Beijing.

CHINA PROMISES ‘COUNTERMEASURES’ TO US ARMS SALE TO TAIWAN

The White House pushed back on suggestions that Trump’s remarks signaled a retreat from longstanding U.S. support for Taiwan.

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that Trump «will make a determination in a fairly short time» regarding a new Taiwan arms package and noted the president approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan in December 2025.

The official also argued Trump’s record on Taiwan arms sales exceeded that of previous administrations, saying Trump approved more sales during his first term «than any other president in history» and more in his first year back in office than former President Joe Biden approved across his entire presidency.

President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping listened to each other on Taiwan, but Trump stressed he did not give in to Xi’s claims of control over Taiwan, declining to assure Xi the U.S. would not defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion.  (Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)

Ahead of Trump’s recent summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, bipartisan lawmakers warned in a letter that «American support for Taiwan is not up for negotiation.»

The Taiwan issue already had emerged as one of the most sensitive flashpoints surrounding Trump’s mid-May summit with Xi in Beijing. 

Following the meeting, China’s foreign ministry said Xi warned Trump that Taiwan remained the «most important issue» in U.S.–China relations and cautioned that mishandling it could lead to «clashes and even conflicts» between the two powers.

The White House later downplayed the exchange, with a senior administration official telling Fox News Digital both sides had simply reiterated their longstanding positions on Taiwan.

For decades, U.S. policy toward Taiwan has rested on a posture of «strategic ambiguity» — supporting Taiwan’s self-defense while avoiding an explicit commitment to militarily defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack.

Trump’s comments prompted competing reactions among foreign policy analysts, with some China hawks warning that treating Taiwan arms sales as negotiable could weaken deterrence and unsettle U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, while others argued the remarks reflected a return to a more traditional interpretation of strategic ambiguity after years of increasingly explicit U.S. signaling toward Taiwan.

TAIWAN RAMPS UP COAST GUARD AND MILITARY READINESS IN FACE OF BEIJING’S ‘GRAY ZONE’ WARFARE

«Trading Taiwan’s security for rhetoric from Beijing would be a strategic blunder of historic proportions,» said retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. «If the president does not proceed with the arms sale to Taiwan, he will jeopardize U.S.–Taiwan relations and weaken U.S. credibility globally.»

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific Program at the German Marshall Fund think tank, argued Trump’s comments blurred an important distinction at the center of longstanding U.S. Taiwan policy.

«Strategic ambiguity has nothing to do with providing arms to Taiwan,» Glaser told Fox News Digital. It only refers to whether the U.S. will defend Taiwan if attacked, she said. 

«The Taiwan Relations Act requires that the United States sell defensive arms to Taiwan. No president has ever said that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are a useful bargaining chip.»

But some foreign policy analysts argued Trump’s comments reflected a deliberate effort to re-center U.S. policy around American priorities.

TRUMP LEAVES CHINA WITH BREAKTHROUGHS — AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS ON XI’S BIGGEST FIGHTS

«Trump has shaken up the Taiwan debate in Washington to a large extent,» Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia engagement at Defense Priorities, told Fox News Digital.

The Taiwan issue had already emerged as one of the most sensitive flashpoints surrounding Trump’s mid-May summit with Xi in Beijing.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Goldstein argued Trump’s comments reflected a return to a more restrained interpretation of «strategic ambiguity» after years of increasingly explicit U.S. signaling toward Taiwan under the Biden administration.

«Overall, his approach has been to return U.S. policy to ‘strategic ambiguity,’ especially in contrast to the Biden administration, which was lurching dangerously toward ‘strategic clarity,’ that threatened to spark a near-term U.S.–China war,» Goldstein said.

During his presidency, former President Joe Biden repeatedly suggested the United States would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack — comments critics said pushed Washington closer toward «strategic clarity,» even as White House officials maintained there had been no formal policy change.

Critics argued Biden’s remarks heightened tensions with Beijing, while supporters said the comments strengthened deterrence against potential Chinese aggression.

Goldstein argued Trump’s willingness to openly discuss Taiwan arms sales in the context of broader U.S.–China negotiations reflects a more restrained approach aimed at preserving stability between Washington and Beijing.

«Indeed, with these fresh comments Trump recognizes that both sides are responsible for maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait,» Goldstein said. «He even went so far as to sternly admonish the leadership in Taipei for unnecessary risk-taking.»

Trump has long taken a more transactional approach toward Taiwan than many traditional U.S. foreign policy hawks, previously arguing the island should pay the United States for its defense and accusing Taiwan of «stealing» America’s semiconductor industry.

He has also repeatedly framed Taiwan through the lens of semiconductor competition and supply-chain dependence, arguing the United States should reclaim a larger share of advanced chip manufacturing.

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«Trump’s new reflections on Taiwan illustrate an informed approach that recognizes the basic and fundamental truth that Taiwan is not a vital U.S. national security interest and that the U.S.-China relationship far outweighs the U.S.-Taiwan relationship in importance,» Goldstein added.

The central question now facing lawmakers and U.S. allies is whether Trump’s rhetoric will ultimately affect the timing or conditions surrounding the pending Taiwan weapons package — a test many analysts see as critical to understanding how the administration intends to approach Taiwan going forward.

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An internal dispute could derail Republicans’ goal of funding immigration operations for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s presidency. 

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told his colleagues that he would not support the GOP’s $72 billion reconciliation package if it included $1 billion in funding for Trump’s ballroom. 

His defection, along with a handful of other Republicans critical of the funding, could sink the bill. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS BALK AT $1B WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM REQUEST: ‘YOU MADE THAT NUMBER UP’

And given the GOP’s narrow margin in the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can’t afford Republicans to break from the party line.

Tillis’ opposition, which was first reported by Axios and confirmed by a source familiar to Fox News Digital, alone isn’t enough to torpedo the package meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years. 

But others, including Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aren’t thrilled with the funding. 

Republicans were briefed by Secret Service Director Sean Curran last week on the funding, which included $220 million for «White House complex hardening.»

REPUBLICANS SLIP $1 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP BALLROOM SECURITY IN ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE

That would fund «above and below ground» security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom, which the administration argued would «afford needed protection for the president, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground, highest-level security functions,» according to an itemized readout obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Those enhancements would include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems and «a host of other national security functions.» 

An additional $180 million would go toward a White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million would go toward Secret Service training, enhancing protection for Trump and other officials, and other security measures including countering drones and other aerial incursions.

But a saving grace for Republicans could be the Senate referee’s ruling that funding for the ballroom should get yanked from the package. 

In order for budget reconciliation to pause the 60-vote threshold and pass under a simple majority of votes, the package has to comply with the Senate’s strict Byrd Rule. Senate Democrats pushed for the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to strip out the funding, and they were successful.

SEVERAL PROVISIONS FAIL TO PASS MUSTER WITH SENATE RULES IN ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump join the royal couple for a photo in front of a model of the new presidential ballroom at the White House. (Aaron Chown/AFP via Getty Images)

McDonough ruled over the weekend that, given the complexity and scale of the ballroom project, it would involve the coordination of «many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees. As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.»

Thune said that Republicans had learned a lot from the parliamentarian’s rulings last year when they were crafting the «big, beautiful bill,» and that the process is a «give-and-take.» 

But still, it’s full steam ahead for the GOP to try and advance the package by the end of the week. 

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«I think that if we can get it done, we should get it done,» Thune said. «I’m always somebody who believes, especially around here, you want to strike while the iron’s hot, and I think if we, if we’re ready to go, the committees have acted, and we’re in a good place with parliamentarian, and we’ve got, you know, decent attendance here, then I think we want to try and wrap this up.»

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, lauded the ruling, but noted that Republicans would likely try to find a way to work the funding back in. 

«We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people,» Merkley said.