TAIPEI: Washington has approved $11 billion-worth of arms to Taiwan, Taipei said Thursday, announcing one of the largest weapons packages for the island as it seeks to deter a potential Chinese invasion.
While Washington is traditionally Taiwan’s biggest arms supplier, remarks by US President Donald Trump raised doubts about his willingness to defend the democratic island.
Taiwan has ramped up its defense spending in the past decade as China has intensified military pressure, but Trump’s administration has pushed the island to do more to protect itself.
The arms sale announced on Thursday, which still needs US Congressional approval, would be the second since Trump returned to office in January, after the $330 million sale of parts and components in November.
The latest, much bigger cache features HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, anti-tank missiles, drones and other equipment, according to Taipei’s foreign ministry.
“This is the second arms sale to Taiwan announced during the Trump administration’s second term, once again demonstrating the US’s firm commitment to Taiwan’s security,” Taipei’s foreign ministry said.
The potential size of the sale rivals the $18 billion authorized under former US president George W. Bush in 2001, although that was ultimately downsized after commercial negotiations.
Bush ended up selling $15.6 billion-worth of weapons to Taiwan over his eight years in office.
During Trump’s first term, the United States approved $10 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, including $8 billion for fighter jets.
The latest package is expected to soon receive a Congressional rubber stamp, given the cross-party consensus on Taiwan’s defense.
Taiwan maintains its own defense industry but the island would be massively outgunned in a conflict with China, and so remains heavily reliant on US arms.
The latest arms sale shows Washington has continued to assist Taipei in “rapidly building robust deterrence capabilities,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s government has vowed to ramp up defense spending to more than three percent of the GDP next year and five percent by 2030, following US pressure.
It is also plans to seek up to NT$1 trillion in special funding to upgrade the island’s air defense systems and increase capacity to produce and store ammunition.
The defense spending proposals need backing from the island’s opposition-controlled parliament before they can take effect.
China deploys military aircraft and warships around Taiwan on a near-daily basis, which analysts describe as “grey-zone” operations — coercive tactics that fall short of an act of war.
Taipei’s defense ministry said 40 Chinese military aircraft, including fighters, choppers and drones, as well as eight naval vessels, were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period ending early Thursday.
On Tuesday, Beijing’s third and newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait, according to Taipei.
US approves $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan: Taipei
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US approves $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan: Taipei
- Taiwan has ramped up its defense spending in the past decade as China has intensified military pressure, but Trump’s administration has pushed the island to do more to protect itself
Trump downplays importance of Russia reportedly sharing intel with Iran to help it hit US targets
- Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine
- Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets
DORAL, Florida: President Donald Trump said Saturday that it was inconsequential if Russia has provided Iran with information to help Tehran target US military personnel and assets in the Middle East as the week-old war rages.
The president dismissed the import of such information-sharing after he attended the dignified transfer for six Army reservists who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait the day after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran that has unsettled the global economy.
Trump stopped short of confirming reports by The Associated Press and other news outlets that US intelligence officials believe Russia has provided Iran with such targeting information. But if Moscow is passing on such details, he said Iran was getting little out of it.
“If you take a look at what’s happened to Iran in the last week, if they’re getting information, it’s not helping them much,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew to Miami, where he’s spending the rest of the weekend.
The president also waved off a question about how Russia assisting Iran in such a way might affect his view of the US-Russia relationship.
“They’d say we do it against them,” Trump responded. “Wouldn’t they say that we do it against them?”
Ukraine, in the four years since it was invaded by Russia, has received US intelligence to help defend against incoming missiles from Russia as well as to help Kyiv hit certain Russian targets.
Downplaying the significance of Russia handing off battlespace intelligence to Iran came after the US Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it was temporarily allowing India to keep buying crude oil and petroleum products from Russia for a month, until April 4.
The administration decision to grant the world’s most populous country a temporary exemption faced bipartisan blowback. Critics charge that Trump was giving Russia a break that will provide Moscow with badly needed revenue as it looks to keep funding its war machine.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, condemned the move, saying in a post on X that “weakness toward Russia is appalling.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., in his own X post directed at Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also decried the administration’s decision.
“Reverse your decision to lift oil sanctions on Russia. It is traitorous conduct for you to help Russia,” Lieu said. “Meanwhile, Russia is assisting Iran in targeting American troops.”
Trump has decided to give India leeway on oil purchases from Russia as global oil prices surge and investors across sectors worry about how long the Iran war will last.
The waiver for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government followed Trump announcing weeks ago that he was cutting tariffs on India after their officials agreed to reduce its reliance on cheap Russian crude.
India has taken advantage of reduced Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The price of oil has surged higher and shows no signs of halting a week into a war that the US and Israel launched and has widened through the Middle East as Tehran strikes back. Ships that carry roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day are unable to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf that is bordered on its north side by Iran.
The shipping disruption and damage to key Middle East oil and gas facilities has interrupted supplies from some of the world’s largest oil producers.
Asked whether he was willing to take other steps to ease oil prices, Trump said that “if there were some, I would do it, just to take a little of the pressure off.”
He appeared Saturday to wave off, at least for now, the possibility of tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying the US has a “lot of oil.”
The reserve — a supply of oil that the US government can tap in case of emergencies — held more than 415 million barrels as of the end of last month, up from about 395 million barrels at this time in 2025. In total, when full, the SPR can hold more than 700 million barrels.
“We’ve got a lot of oil. Our country has a tremendous amount,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of oil out there. That’ll get healed very quickly.”
