Trump declines approval of Taiwan army support bundle: Report

U.S. President Donald Trump declined to approve $400 million in army support to Taiwan in current months whereas negotiating on commerce and a possible summit with Beijing, the Washington Post reported Thursday (September 18, 2025).

The resolution would mark a pointy departure from U.S. coverage towards the democratic island, which faces a continuing risk of invasion by China.

A White House official advised the Post that the help bundle resolution was not but last.

Mr. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to talk Friday, their second name because the 79-year-old Republican returned to the White House. The phone talks come as the 2 sides search a compromise on tariffs and a deal on video-sharing app TikTok.

While the U.S. stopped recognising Taiwan within the late Seventies in favour of China, Washington has remained Taipei’s most vital backer and largest provider of army support.

Under former President Joe Biden, Washington accredited greater than $2 billion in army support packages for Taiwan. But Mr. Trump “does not support sending weapons without payment, a preference also on display with Ukraine,” the Post famous.

It stated that U.S. and Taiwanese protection officers met in Anchorage, Alaska in August and mentioned a bundle of weapons gross sales “which could total in the billions of dollars,” together with drones, missiles and sensors to observe the island’s shoreline.

Since Mr. Trump returned to the White House in January, there have been rising jitters in Taipei over the power of the Taiwan-U.S. relationship and Washington’s willingness to defend the island if China had been to assault.

Visiting Taiwan in late August, the pinnacle of the U.S. Senate armed providers committee stated he was decided the U.S. and Taiwan stay “the best of friends.”

“It is our determination and our intention that Taiwan remain free and make its own decisions,” Republican Senator Roger Wicker stated after talks with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te.

“Part of maintaining the freedoms that we have is enhanced cooperation militarily, enhanced cooperation with our defense industrial base, making the best use of those funds.”