Trump says he never discussed selling US weapons to China with Xi

Trump contradicts US ambassador to China on arms sales proposal; says Iran negotiations will conclude 'pretty quickly'

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday (local time). [EPA]

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US President Donald Trump said Monday (local time) that he never discussed selling American weapons to China with President Xi Jinping at their recent summit, pushing back on remarks made by US Ambassador to China David Perdue.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump acknowledged the idea had some merit but denied it had come up in his talks with Xi. "They'd probably want to buy them because we make better equipment — maybe it's a good idea," he said. "But we didn't discuss it."

Earlier that day, Perdue told Fox News that Trump had repeatedly raised the subject of arms sales in his conversations with the Chinese leader. "President Trump keeps saying, 'We sell weapons to other countries around the world,'" Perdue said. "The president actually asked President Xi at some point, 'Why don't you buy some of our weapons?'"

The remarks drew immediate concern because current US law prohibits arms sales to China, and any move to pursue such a deal could conflict with longstanding US policy toward China and Taiwan. The White House and the Department of State both moved to contain the fallout, telling The New York Times that the United States has no plans to sell weapons to China.

Trump continued to praise his summit with Xi, which was held Thursday. "It was a great meeting," he said. "On a scale of zero to 10, I'd give it a 12."

Meanwhile, Trump said negotiations with Iran over ending the war would reach a conclusion soon. Asked whether there had been any progress, he said, "We're going to win," adding, "I think it's going to go one way or the other, and it's going to happen pretty quickly." He also predicted that gasoline prices would drop sharply once the war ends.

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