President Donald Trump has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping whether he would like to buy US arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said Sunday, describing the remark as Trump downplaying a pending American weapons sale to Taiwan.

Ambassador David Perdue told Fox News Sunday that Trump keeps saying “we sell arms to other people around the world” and “actually asked President Xi, would he like to buy some, at one point.” Perdue spoke days after Trump hosted Xi for a state visit in Washington and did not say when the question was raised.

The White House said the US has no plans to sell arms to China, and the State Department said US law prohibits such sales, according to reports. The US has maintained an arms embargo on China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Perdue pushed back on claims that Washington is shortchanging Taiwan, saying Trump “is as strong on Taiwan as I’ve ever seen anybody.” US law requires Washington to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

The remark, meant to reassure Taiwan’s supporters, instead raised questions about how far Trump goes in bargaining with Beijing over arms policy.