developments, and I doubt it is Taiwan for TikTok + Soybeans :0)))))) and )
am guessing Taiwan can buy the soybeans and dump it all into the ocean, but no way around the TikTok thing
bloomberg.com
Trump Halts $400 Million in Taiwan Military Aid, Post Reports
By Yian Lee
September 19, 2025 at 9:32 AM GMT+8
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
- President Donald Trump has declined to approve a more than $400 million military aid package for Taiwan as he seeks a trade deal with China.
- The decision may still be reversed and the White House says the decision has not been finalized.
- The pause in security assistance aligns with the Trump administration's efforts to cool tensions with Beijing as he seeks an expansive trade agreement with China.
President Donald Trump has declined to approve a more than $400 million military aid package for Taiwan as he seeks a trade deal with China, according to the Washington Post.
The shipment including munitions and autonomous drones was rejected in a decision this summer that may still be reversed, the newspaper reported Thursday evening US time, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment, but earlier told the Post the decision had not been finalized. The US’s de facto embassy in Taipei didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry, and the Taiwanese defense ministry said it was looking into the matter.
If confirmed, the pause in security assistance aligns with the Trump administration’s efforts to cool tensions with Beijing as he seeks an expansive trade agreement with the world’s second-largest economy. Trump is set to hold his first phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping since June on Friday, an exchange that may lead to a deal over TikTok’s US operations and pave the way for a meeting next month.
Beijing sees the self-ruled democracy of 23 million people as part of its territory and has regularly protested US arms transfers as provocative. Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun on Thursday repeated a warning against “external interference” over Taiwan at a regional defense forum in the Chinese capital in a veiled swipe at Washington.
The reported pause in aid also reflects Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy, which prioritizes allies paying for their own defense. The administration’s view, according to the Post, is that Taiwan should purchase American weapons, rather than receive them through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, a process used several times by the Biden administration.
Taipei, for its part, has been ramping up its own defense commitments, partly to placate Washington. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te plans to increase military spending and his government last week approved special funding to acquire more drones and ships. |
