Trump Denies Arms Offer to Xi After Ambassador Contradicts Him — SkimNews
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- David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China, said President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping if he would "like to buy some," a remark read as an arms offer.
- President Trump on Monday denied making the offer to Xi, creating a direct contradiction with his own ambassador's public account.
- Perdue's comments "made waves" and fueled questions about whether the U.S. could change its posture toward China on military sales.
- The alleged offer, if real, would touch on U.S. arms transfer policy toward Beijing — though the source itself leaves the specific policy implications undefined.
Why it matters: A sitting U.S. ambassador publicly contradicting the president he represents puts the official U.S. account of the Trump-Xi meeting in dispute. The disagreement over whether an arms offer was extended — and Perdue's own characterization that his comments 'made waves' — makes the credibility gap between ambassador and commander-in-chief itself the defining story.
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