US President Donald Trump mentioned on Monday that his administration would transfer forward with the long-anticipated sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, regardless of inside considerations that the deal may expose delicate American expertise to China.When requested whether or not he would approve the sale, Trump mentioned, “I’ll say that we’ll be doing that. We’ll be promoting F-35s.”
The announcement got here a day earlier than Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anticipated arrival in Washington, his first US go to in over seven years. The F-35 deal is amongst a number of main agreements the 2 nations are more likely to unveil throughout the go to, in line with AP.The crown prince is anticipated to hunt formal US assurances on navy safety for the dominion and the acquisition of the F-35, one of many world’s most superior fighter jets.The timing of the announcement additionally displays Trump’s push to safe a normalisation deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel. He has promoted an enlargement of the Abraham Accords as key to long-term regional stability whereas the delicate Gaza ceasefire holds. “I hope that Saudi Arabia might be going into the Abraham Accords very shortly,” he advised reporters on Air Drive One on Friday.Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia has maintained that any deal should embrace a assured pathway to a Palestinian state, a place Israel firmly rejects. Officers say Riyadh is unlikely to hitch the accords instantly, although there’s guarded optimism a couple of attainable settlement by the top of Trump’s second time period.The New York Occasions reported {that a} Pentagon intelligence evaluation raised contemporary considerations that China may acquire entry to delicate F-35 expertise if the sale proceeds. Sources acquainted with the Defence Intelligence Company’s findings mentioned US officers worry potential Chinese language espionage and Beijing’s rising safety cooperation with Riyadh. Washington has additionally been evaluating whether or not the sale would have an effect on Israel’s qualitative navy edge, given Israel is the one Center Japanese nation working F-35s and has used them in strikes in Iran in October 2024 and June 2025.Bradley Bowman of the Basis for Protection of Democracies mentioned Congress could now search readability on what assurances Riyadh has provided relating to its ties with China. He added that lawmakers are more likely to press the administration on the way it plans to keep up Israel’s navy benefit within the area.
