Trump Verifies US Will Sell Saudi Arabia F-35 Fighter Jets Before White House Negotiations
Trump meets with Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington and declares that the US will sell Saudi Arabia F-35 combat fighters.
President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that the United States will move forward with selling Saudi Arabia F-35 fighter fighters, ahead of a high-profile White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We’re going to do it. The president informed reporters, “We will be selling F-35 jets.” “A wonderful ally they have been.”
Since Saudi agents killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the crown prince has not visited the White House before. Despite his repeated denials of involvement, a US intelligence analysis found that Prince Mohammed approved the operation.
During the first term of Trump, Prince Mohammed made his most recent trip to Washington in 2018. His homecoming highlights a fresh warming in ties following former President Joe Biden’s initial distancing from the crown prince and his promise to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” due to its human rights past. Biden later visited the kingdom in 2022 to talk about energy and regional issues, and he reportedly brought up Khashoggi’s murder at the conversation.
Defense cooperation and possible agreements on civilian nuclear power will also be discussed at Tuesday’s talks. The trip comes after Trump and the crown prince met in Riyadh in May, where the US committed to sell around $142 billion (£107 billion) worth of weaponry. The White House referred to the $600 billion investment package as the largest defense sales pact in American history. The world’s largest purchaser of US weapons is still Saudi Arabia.
Despite the White House’s excitement, some US defense officials are hesitant to sell Saudi Arabia F-35s, the world’s most sophisticated fighter jets. Because of Riyadh’s expanding security connections with Beijing, they worry that the transfer could expose vital stealth technology, which could favour China.
Israel, the only regional operator of F-35s and the closest US ally in the Middle East, is allegedly worried that the sale could weaken its long-standing superior military capability.
Lockheed Martin, the maker of the F-35A, estimates that the average cost of the aircraft is $82.5 million.
Additionally, Trump is anticipated to use the summit to push Saudi Arabia to ratify the Abraham Accords, which he supported and which would open the door to normalized relations with Israel. The current Israeli government rejects the premise that Riyadh has stated it will only do so if there is a viable road to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The results of the negotiations could influence Middle Eastern security, diplomacy, and alliances while indicating the extent to which Washington and Riyadh are prepared to strengthen their partnership in spite of previous hostilities.
