{"id":23426,"date":"2019-08-20T21:08:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T21:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/20\/taiwan-f-16-sale-officially-cleared-by-trump-administration\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:00:50","slug":"taiwan-f-16-sale-officially-cleared-by-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2019\/08\/20\/taiwan-f-16-sale-officially-cleared-by-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Taiwan F-16 sale officially cleared by Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The Trump administration has officially cleared the potential sale of F-16 fighters to Taiwan, a move expected to infuriate China but embraced by the U.S. Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The potential sale, worth an estimated $8 billion, was posted on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency late Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sale must still be OK\u2019d by Congress; however, there has been widespread, bipartisan support for the sale on Capitol Hill \u2014 support that appears to have helped move the sale along when it stalled within the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fighter jet sale<\/a> had been in limbo, as the White House directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to hold off, congressional sources said last week. That fueled speculation that President Donald Trump planned to use it as a bargaining chip in ongoing trade negotiations with China. The move had been sought by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen as part of a larger drive<\/a> to combine American arms with domestically developed training jets, submarines and other weapons technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\t