Statements from President Trump, the Pentagon, and the Taiwanese administration are sowing confusion about the stalled arms sale that lawmakers say is a vital component of deterring China.

A source familiar with Trump’s thinking told Just the News that he is expected to make a decision on the arms sale soon. 

The president has balanced the arms sale with the U.S.-China tensions that have eased following a cordial summit in Beijing earlier this month. 

The summit, during which Trump visited Beijing for the first time since his first term, marked a shift in tone following a bruising tariff and trade battle, moving from "competition" toward "strategic stability" – a framework that seems to prioritize trade cooperation and downplays confrontation.

Trump has already approved one arms package to Taiwan, in December. But the second, larger package approved by Congress earlier this year is now stalled. 

Jack Burnham, a China analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Just the News that Taiwan buys arms from the U.S. to deter China, which has ramped up military pressure on the island nation with frequent military exercises in recent years. 

"Taiwan buys weapons for one reason: to deter Beijing, which continues its efforts to coerce Taipei into accepting subjugation," Burnham told Just the News. The communist government of China views the island of Taiwan as a part of its national territory and does not rule out the use of force to bring it under control.  

Previously, U.S. presidents have been careful to detach arms sales to Taiwan from broader diplomatic engagement with the Chinese. In 1982, the Reagan administration gave Taiwan what became known as the Six Assurances, one of which stated that the U.S. “has not agreed to consult with [China] on arms sales to Taiwan.” Successive presidents have adhered to that promise. 

But, Trump, returning last week from his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, described a $14 billion congressional arms package for Taiwan as leverage in negotiations with China, Just the News previously reported. 

"It's a very good negotiating chip for us, frankly. It's a lot of weapons," the president said, linking arms sales to Taiwan with the overall U.S.-China relationship. 

Lawmakers have raised concerns that delays in arms sales to Taiwan could undermine the island’s deterrence of Chinese aggression and lead to a broader war in the region.  

The U.S. must "arm Taiwan so they can defend themselves for deterrence against Chairman Xi," said Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman. Lawmakers are currently moving the PORCUPINE Act through Congress that aims to expedite the transfer of military equipment to Taiwan. 

Pentagon officials have delivered different reasons for the delay in the sale. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, testifying before the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee on Thursday, said the administration was pausing the sale for an entirely different reason – to protect U.S. munitions stocks depleted during Operation Epic Fury, the American air and naval campaign against Iran that started Feb. 28 and ended with a fragile ceasefire.  

"Right now, we're doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury – which we have plenty," Cao told lawmakers. "We're just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary."

Despite Cao’s testimony, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has consistently pushed back on the claim that the conflict with Iran has strained U.S. munitions stockpiles. "The munitions issue has been foolishly and unhelpfully overstated," Hegseth told Congress earlier this month. 

“As with all prospective foreign military sales and security assistance matters, the details remain predecisional until finalized by the President. Our Taiwan policy remains unchanged, and the U.S. continues to adhere to long-standing commitment consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

The $14 billion package – which includes advanced air-defense systems and interceptor missiles – was approved by Congress in January. It requires a formal submission from the president before it can proceed.

That package follows a record-breaking $11 billion arms deal that the Trump administration approved in December.  

Taiwan was already carrying a significant backlog of undelivered American military hardware even before the latest pause. By December 2025, outstanding U.S. defense deliveries to Taipei are valued at about $21.5 billion, including for orders of F-16 fighters, Patriot missile systems and other weapons already paid for but not yet shipped.

A source familiar with the deliberations told Just the News that Trump “will make a decision regarding Taiwan arms sales soon.”  

“These sales take years to process and are unrelated to Operation Epic Fury. The United States Military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of President Trump’s strategic goals and beyond,” the individual said in a statement. 

Taiwan continues to insist that the weapons sale is necessary for deterring China and that, despite the news reports and comments from the administration, no “adjustments” to the transaction have been shared with them. 

Taiwan's presidential spokesperson, Karen Kuo, said the government had seen the reports of a pause but had received no official word from Washington. "[C]urrently there is no information regarding any adjustments the US will make to this arms sale," Kuo said.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said that if given the chance to speak with Trump, he would urge him to continue arms sales, calling them essential for peace in the Taiwan Strait. Lai has previously said Taiwan's sovereignty is "non-negotiable."

Trump has suggested that he could speak directly with Taiwan’s president, something a sitting U.S. president has not done since Washington transferred official recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979.

A bipartisan group of senators raised concerns about the potential for further delays of the Taiwan arms package and filed a resolution affirming congressional support for defensive arms sales to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act and stating explicitly that the United States had made no agreement to consult China before selling weapons to the island. 

Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell, who questioned Cao at Thursday's hearing, called the delay "distressing." 

FDD’s Burnham argued that the economic case for completing the sale is as strong as the strategic one, and explained how the arms transfer is not foreign aid, but something for which Taiwan pays.  

"Taiwan is America's best customer; Taipei has already approved the funds to purchase the proposed American weapons package," he told Just the News. "President Trump should recognize that Taipei is already spending on its own defense, and that its funds will fuel a resurgence in the U.S. defense industrial base."

Beijing, for its part, has long opposed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and its government wasted no time expressing satisfaction with the pause. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters Friday that "China's firm opposition to US arms sales to China's Taiwan region is consistent, clear and unwavering."