Anduril's Palmer Luckey says Trump's hold on $14B Taiwan arms deal is squeezing his business

What Luckey is seeing on the ground

Speaking with reporters in Taipei at a defense forum also attended by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, Palmer Luckey said the delay is changing how Anduril does business with Taiwan. "It's 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 said, while declining to specify which Anduril efforts are being pushed back. He added that he does not know where the arms package currently stands.

Luckey said he brought the matter up directly with Trump and separately spoke with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio about Taiwan's arms purchases. In his view, the administration is listening to outside perspectives but is also weighing possible blowback from approving more weapons for Taiwan, including the risk that Beijing could lean on its rare earths influence in ways that would hit tech supply chains.

Where the package stands and the politics shaping it

A Taiwan arms bundle worth $14 billion has been parked for months without Trump's go-ahead. After meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, Trump said he was holding the package in abeyance and called it a "very good negotiating chip." The status of Taiwan is expected to be a top item for Xi when he sees Trump in Washington next week.

China insists Taiwan is part of its territory, a claim the self-ruled island rejects. Beijing has repeatedly pressed Washington to stop arming Taipei and has blacklisted several U.S. defense suppliers. In December, Beijing imposed sanctions on Luckey over his company's weapons sales to Taiwan. The White House did not immediately provide comment when contacted outside normal business hours.

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Drones, defense tech and Taiwan's modernization

Anduril's Altius drone is already in Taiwanese service, and drones have become central to modern conflict in places like Ukraine and the Middle East. Trump has been pushing the Pentagon to field newer technologies aimed at countering China, a shift that has helped turn Anduril into a standout bet among Silicon Valley defense startups.

At the Taipei forum, Lai and Luckey exchanged a handshake at the outset. Lai has put unmanned systems at the core of Taiwan's military refresh. Last year, Taiwan unveiled its first co-produced missile with a U.S. partner: Anduril's Barracuda-500, a self-guiding, lower-cost cruise missile. Luckey warned that the current hold is not just a one-off delay, saying, "as long as that's stuck, you don't have continued forward progress in other areas."

What this means for your money

If you own stocks tied to Taiwan-facing defense sales, a $14 billion order book sitting on the runway can slow deliveries, testing near-term revenue timing even for fast-growing firms. Watch for any movement when Xi meets Trump next week and for signals on whether the package gets unstuck, since Luckey says the pause is already shifting business outcomes in Taiwan.

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