Trump is set to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House for an official working visit on Tuesday.
“They want to buy it, they’ve been a great ally,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He then added: “Yeah, I will say that we will be doing that. We’ll be selling F-35s.”The announcement came on the eve of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s highly anticipated Washington visit, his first to the United States in more than seven years.
“I will say that that we will be doing that,” Trump said when asked if he would sell the jets to Saudi Arabia. “We’ll be selling F-35s.”
Saudi Arabia is expected to announce a multibillion-dollar investment in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure, and the two countries are will lay out details about new cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector, according to a senior Trump administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly ahead of the formal announcement.
The crown prince had been expected to arrive with a wish list that includes receiving formal assurances from Trump defining the scope of the U.S. military protection for the kingdom and an agreement to buy U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, one of the world’s most advanced aircraft.
