President Donald Trump announced Monday that he intends to move forward with selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, despite internal administration worries that the deal could allow China to gain access to sensitive U.S. military technology.
The announcement comes just before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s much-anticipated visit to Washington — his first in over seven years.
When asked about the potential sale, Trump confirmed, “We’ll be selling F-35s.”
The jet purchase is one of several major agreements expected to be unveiled during the crown prince’s trip. Saudi Arabia is also set to roll out a large investment in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure and announce new civil nuclear cooperation with Washington, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The crown prince is arriving with key priorities, including formal U.S. security guarantees for the kingdom and approval to buy the advanced F-35 aircraft.
However, the administration has been cautious about jeopardizing Israel’s military advantage in the region, especially as Trump leans on Israeli support for his Gaza peace initiative.
Another concern — the same one that halted a similar proposed F-35 sale to the United Arab Emirates — is the risk that the aircraft’s technology could be compromised or passed to China, given Beijing’s strong ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Recent joint Saudi-Chinese naval exercises and China’s role in mediating Saudi-Iranian rapprochement have heightened these worries. China also overtook the U.S. last year as Saudi Arabia’s top trading partner, though the U.S. remains Riyadh’s preferred arms supplier.
Bradley Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said Congress will likely seek assurances that Riyadh is limiting sensitive cooperation with Beijing, and that Israel’s qualitative military edge is protected.
Broader diplomatic context
Trump’s announcement comes as he attempts to broker normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He has promoted the expansion of his Abraham Accords — which established ties between Israel and several Arab states — as central to securing long-term Middle East stability amid a delicate Gaza ceasefire.
“I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords very shortly,” Trump said Friday aboard Air Force One.
But U.S. officials acknowledge privately that progress is slow. Saudi Arabia insists that a clear path to Palestinian statehood must be part of any normalization deal — a position Israel strongly opposes.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday approved a U.S. plan for Gaza that authorizes an international stabilization force and outlines a possible route toward Palestinian statehood.
While Saudi leaders are unlikely to join the accords immediately, officials say an agreement later in Trump’s second term remains possible. Bowman argued that Trump should condition F-35 delivery on Saudi-Israeli normalization to preserve leverage.
The Trump administration had previously notified Congress in late 2020 of a plan to sell F-35 jets to the UAE as part of a $23 billion package following the signing of the Abraham Accords. But President Biden paused the sale shortly after taking office.
Human rights concerns
Trump’s new arms deal is expected to draw criticism from human rights advocates. Prince Mohammed’s visit is his first since 2018, when he embarked on a lengthy U.S. tour seeking to soften Saudi Arabia’s image amid concerns about conservative laws, women’s rights issues, and lingering stigma tied to the fact that most 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
Saudi Arabia’s global reputation suffered further after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul later that year, an operation U.S. intelligence agencies concluded the crown prince likely authorized — a claim he denies.
But seven years later, Trump has restored close ties with the 40-year-old crown prince, whom he sees as central to shaping the region’s future.
“They have been a great ally,” Trump said.