US to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia, Trump says ahead of crown prince’s visit

The US will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump told reporters ahead of a White House meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“We will be doing that. We will be selling F-35 jets,” Trump said. “They’ve been a great ally.”

The leaders are expected to discuss deals on defence and civilian nuclear power during Tuesday’s White House visit, the first by the de facto Saudi leader since journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the hands of Saudi agents seven years ago.

A US intelligence assessment said Prince Mohammed approved the operation that led to the killing. The crown prince denied any role in the murder.

Prince Mohammed’s last visit was during Trump’s first term in 2018, the same year as Khashoggi’s murder in Istanbul.

While former President Joe Biden did not host the crown prince and promised to make the country a “pariah” over its human rights record, Biden did visit Saudi Arabia in 2022 to reach agreements on other issues. Biden said he raised Khashoggi’s murder in that meeting.

Trump and the crown prince already met in Riyadh in May. There, the US agreed to sell nearly $142bn (£107bn) worth of arms to Saudi Arabia in what the White House described as the “largest defence sales agreement in history”, as part of a $600bn investment deal. Saudia Arabia is the largest buyer of US arms.

Some American defence officials have raised concerns about a potential sale of F-35s, considered the most advanced fighter jet in the world, to Saudi Arabia. They told US media that they feared it would give Saudi Arabia access to sensitive stealth technology, which the country could then share with China under a security partnership between the two powers.

Officials in Israel are also worried, telling US and local media that a deal has the potential to hurt the country’s military standing. Israel is the closest US ally in the Middle East and the only country in the region with F-35s.

One F-35A jet costs on average $82.5m, according to lead manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Trump is also expected to push for Saudi Arabia to sign the Abraham Accords he created and normalise relations with Israel. The Saudis have said that is conditional on a path to a Palestinian state – which the current Israeli government rejects.