United States President Donald Trump said he plans to approve the sale of US-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia on Monday, speaking a day before he hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a day of diplomacy.
"I will say that we will be doing that," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We'll be selling the F-35s."
A sale would mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and testing Washington's definition of maintaining Israel's "qualitative military edge."
Saudi Arabia has requested to buy as many as 48 F-35 fighter jets, a potential multibillion-dollar deal that has cleared a key Pentagon hurdle ahead of the prince's visit, Reuters reported early this month.
The Saudis have long been interested in Lockheed Martin's fighter. A senior White House official told Reuters before Trump spoke that the president wanted to talk to the crown prince about the jets, "then we'll make a determination."
Saudi Arabia may join Abraham Accords 'very shortly,' Trump tells reporters
Trump shared hopes that Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords “very shortly” during a press conference with reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.
Trump stated that there has been “tremendous interest” in the normalization efforts and that he will be discussing the accords with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a White House meeting set to take place later this month, when they are expected to sign economic and defense agreements.
He emphasized that interest in the Abraham Accords has grown since June’s joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities that “put Iran out of business" and confirmed that it will be a topic of discussion during the US-Saudi meeting.