Arming an adversary: Why Trump’s offer to sell China weapons belies US policy

In an offer that baffled most observers, United States President Donald Trump has made a pitch to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that has seldom been made in modern history.Trump’s suggestion that Beijing buy US weapons was another off-script remark that appeared to stray from official policy, prompting the State Department to clarify that Washington has no such plans.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Hostile, but hooked’: What’s behind the US-China trade truce extension?list 2 of 4Trump hails ‘very productive’ talks with China’s Xi Jinpinglist 3 of 4China, US to open AI ‘communication channel’ after summitlist 4 of 4Trump rejects combining US-China AI effortsend of listTrump asked Xi “at one point” whether China was interested in procuring US arms, the US envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. The president reportedly made the suggestion in discussions with Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, but it was unclear whether that happened during their joint summit last week or at another time.The comments are all the more striking given Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s support for Iran, as Trump’s ongoing war with Tehran continu...