Donald Trump offered China's president Xi Jinping the chance to buy American weapons, the US ambassador to China has said.

David Perdue said Mr Trump raised the prospect of arms sales to what is widely seen as the main military rival to the US.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, he did not reveal when the offer was made - but the extraordinary claim comes just days after President Xi's state visit to Washington.

Mr Perdue was asked about concerns among American politicians over delays to aid packages and weapons orders to Taiwan, where the government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

The ambassador was also asked whether the delays are efforts to appease the Chinese president.

Mr Perdue said Mr Trump "is as strong on Taiwan as I've ever seen anybody" and has sold it plenty of weapons, confirming the president and China's leader continue to talk about future US weapons sales to Taiwan.

He added: "But President Trump continues to say, 'hey, we sell arms to other people around the world'.

"He actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point."

The US is bound by its own laws to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

Selling US arms to China would upend generations of American policy toward China and Taiwan and potentially expose US technology to a potential foe. Fears have widely been expressed that the US could go to war with China, if Beijing decided to invade the territory and America felt compelled to defend its independence.

While not recognising Taiwan as a country, the US is the island's strongest informal backer and arms provider.

President Xi told Mr Trump last week that he hoped the US would adhere to the "correct position" of opposing Taiwan independence.

Last December, the Trump administration approved an $11bn arms sale to Taiwan while another package worth $14bn is on hold.

Taiwan is also one of the US's biggest trading partners, with a significant amount of the flow of goods being in the form of advanced chips used in AI that are made on the island.

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On Friday, Mr Perdue told CNBC there has been no change in Taiwan policy by Mr Trump, including on the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act which mandates arms sales to the island.

"We want peace across the strait. We don't want coercion. We don't support independence and we think that, you know, President Xi has gotten that message," he said.

"President Trump has shown respect and listened to their side of that argument."

(c) Sky News 2026: Trump asked China's president if he wanted to buy US weapons, says ambassador