Anduril founder says he discussed Taiwan arms sale with Trump

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Palmer Luckey, founder of U.S.-based Anduril Industries, said Saturday that delayed U.S. arms sales under U.S. President Donald Trump are affecting his company's business, a matter he said he has raised personally with Trump.

In a joint interview with three media outlets, including CNA, Luckey said he had discussed the issue with Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, referring to a proposed US$14 billion arms package for Taiwan.

The US$14 billion weapons deal, which was reported to be in the works early this year, remains stalled, awaiting final approval by the Trump administration.

￭ Anduril founder urges Taiwan to expand defense production, exports

Following the May summit in Beijing between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), Trump suggested the delayed package could act as a diplomatic bargaining chip with China.

Trump and Xi are set to meet in Washington next week, and how the meeting might affect the arms sale, which Beijing opposes, will be closely watched.

Asked about the impact of the delay on Anduril's business with Taiwan, Luckey said it was definitely "affecting the business in that ... our business with Taiwan would be in a different place if you had that $14 billion moving forward."

He did not offer any further details, however, on the actual impact face by his company.

Luckey said he had spoken with the administration but does not know what will happen, emphasizing that no one can predict Trump's internal "art of the deal" strategy.

According to Luckey, the Trump administration is aware of the issue and has been very open‑minded toward people working on these problems and hearing from them.

The problem, Luckey said, is that Trump is burdened by decades of U.S. policy "that have given China an enormous amount of leverage" over the U.S. with rare earth, metals, production of critical components, and making almost all of America's electronics.

"Almost all of our government's computers are made in China, right? And most of our military's computers are made in China."

While some argue Trump should simply approve the deal and accept the consequences, he is being briefed on potential impacts for American consumers, industries, and the military, leaving him in a difficult position as he has to weigh all these factors, Luckey said.

Luckey gave the interview after delivering his keynote speech at the second Resilient Taiwan for Sustainable Democracy International Forum, hosted by the Presidential Office.