Trump's acting Navy Secretary confirmed the US paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan — citing potential munitions needs from the Iran war. This on top of a $30 billion existing weapons backlog. Ben Rhodes warns this signals to Xi Jinping that 2027-2028 is his window to move.
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At 47:36 · chapter starts 46:20
The previous week's Trump-Xi meeting produced almost nothing visible in return for significant US concessions. Trump had already described Taiwan arms sales as a 'negotiating chip,' and now the acting Navy Secretary confirmed the $14 billion pause in Senate testimony — while simultaneously insisting the US had plenty of munitions, creating an obvious logical contradiction. Reuters reported the paused package includes air defense interceptors and other high-priority items Taiwan needs. Ben places this in the context of the Taiwan Relations Act: the 1979 law was designed precisely to deter a Chinese invasion by ensuring Taiwan could defend itself, making war too costly for Beijing. If Xi Jinping can extract progressive pauses across three more Trump-Xi meetings this year — APEC, G20, Washington — the cumulative effect could be to effectively void the Act without a single vote in Congress. Ben's nightmare scenario: Xi concludes that 2027–2028 is his strategic window, with Taiwan underarmed and Trump signaling he won't defend it. A Financial Times report that the hottest issue in the Xi-Trump meeting was Japanese remilitarization suggests further regional volatility ahead.
Trump's acting Secretary of the Navy confirmed the US had paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, citing potential munitions needs from the Iran war.
The $14B pause comes on top of a nearly $30 billion existing backlog of US weapons deliveries already owed to Taiwan.
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