U.S. approves first military sale to Taiwan since Donald Trump’s return

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

Washington is Taipei’s biggest arms supplier and a key deterrent to a potential Chinese attack, but Mr. Trump’s remarks on Taiwan have raised doubts about his willingness to defend the democratic island.

Beijing claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

“This marks the first time the new Trump administration has announced an arms sale to Taiwan,” the Foreign Ministry said, after the U.S. State Department approved the package.

Taiwan requested “non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, and repair and return support for F-16, C-130, and Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) aircraft,” a statement posted on the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

Taiwan has its own defence industry, but the island’s military would be massively outgunned in a conflict with China and remains heavily reliant on U.S. weapons for self-defence.

‘Strategic ambiguity’

While the United States is legally bound to provide arms to Taiwan, Washington has long maintained “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to whether it would deploy its military to defend the island from a Chinese attack.

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has been at pains to find favour with Mr. Trump, vowing to raise defence spending to more than 3% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030.

Mr. Lai has also pledged to boost investment in the United States as his government tries to reduce Mr. Trump’s 20% tariff on Taiwanese exports.

But his government’s plans for a special defence budget of up to NT$1 trillion (US$32 billion) could be derailed by the main opposition Kuomintang party, which controls the parliament with the help of the Taiwan People’s Party.

Opposition lawmakers have expressed frustration over the backlog of U.S. deliveries to Taiwan, worth billions of dollars, caused by Covid-19 supply chain disruptions and U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine and Israel.

The Beijing-friendly KMT’s new chairperson Cheng Li-wun told AFP recently that Taiwan cannot afford to increase defence spending above 3% of GDP, saying “Taiwan isn’t an ATM”.

The U.S. arms sale is the first since December 2024 under 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 told parliament last week that armed attacks on Taiwan could warrant sending troops to support the island under “collective self-defence”.

Beijing has slammed Ms. Takaichi’s remarks, with its foreign ministry on Thursday saying it “will by no means tolerate” it.