Trump administration plans $8 billion fighter jet sale to Taiwan, angering China

The Trump administration is pressing ahead with an $8 billion sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a move likely to raise strong objections from China amid the deepening trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.

The State Department submitted the package to Congress for informal review late Thursday, and it is not expected to meet opposition, according to several U.S. officials and other people familiar with the matter. It would be the largest and most significant sale of weaponry to Taiwan in decades.

The deal has been in the works for months, and lawmakers from both political parties had questioned whether the White House would scuttle it with hopes of softening the ground for a U.S.-China trade pact or otherwise seek to use the jets as a bargaining chip in the deadlocked negotiations.

Read the full article and more in The Washington Post.