U.S. approves first navy sale to Taiwan since Donald Trumps return

The United States has authorised $330 million-worth of components and tools in its first navy sale to Taiwan since U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry mentioned on Friday (November 14, 2025).

Washington is Taipei’s greatest arms provider and a key deterrent to a possible Chinese assault, however Mr. Trump’s remarks on Taiwan have raised doubts about his willingness to defend the democratic island.

Beijing claims Taiwan is a part of its territory and has threatened to make use of pressure to carry it beneath its management.

“This marks the primary time the brand new Trump administration has introduced an arms sale to Taiwan,” the Foreign Ministry mentioned, after the U.S. State Department authorised the bundle.

Taiwan requested “non-standard parts, spare and restore components, consumables and equipment, and restore and return help for F-16, C-130, and Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) plane,” a press release posted on the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency mentioned.

Taiwan has its personal defence trade, however the island’s navy can be massively outgunned in a battle with China and stays closely reliant on U.S. weapons for self-defence.

‘Strategic ambiguity’

While the United States is legally sure to supply arms to Taiwan, Washington has lengthy maintained “strategic ambiguity” on the subject of whether or not it might deploy its navy to defend the island from a Chinese assault.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has been at pains to seek out favour with Mr. Trump, vowing to lift defence spending to greater than 3% of GDP subsequent 12 months and 5% by 2030.

Mr. Lai has additionally pledged to spice up funding within the United States as his authorities tries to scale back Mr. Trump’s 20% tariff on Taiwanese exports.

But his authorities’s plans for a particular defence finances of as much as NT$1 trillion (US$32 billion) could possibly be derailed by the primary opposition Kuomintang get together, which controls the parliament with the assistance of the Taiwan People’s Party.

Opposition lawmakers have expressed frustration over the backlog of U.S. deliveries to Taiwan, price billions of {dollars}, attributable to Covid-19 provide chain disruptions and U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine and Israel.

The Beijing-friendly KMT’s new chairperson Cheng Li-wun instructed AFP not too long ago that Taiwan can’t afford to extend defence spending above 3% of GDP, saying “Taiwan isn’t an ATM”.

The U.S. arms sale is the primary since December 2024 beneath former President Joe Biden.

It comes as Beijing and Tokyo row over remarks by Japan’s new hawkish premier about Taiwan.

Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed parliament final week that armed assaults on Taiwan might warrant sending troops to help the island beneath “collective self-defence”.

Beijing has slammed Ms. Takaichi’s remarks, with its overseas ministry on Thursday saying it “will certainly not tolerate” it.