Donald Trump is expected to seal a raft of deals covering defence, artificial intelligence and nuclear energy — including an unprecedented sale of F-35 fighter jets — when he hosts Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on a high-profile visit to Washington this week.
Trump on Monday said he planned to approve the kingdom’s request to buy “a lot” of F-35s, the US’s most advanced stealth fighter. “I will say that we will be doing that,” he said in the Oval Office. “We’ll be selling the F-35s.”
The US president is hosting the prince’s two-day visit — the first by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler since the country’s agents murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 — that is intended to strengthen decades of co-operation between Washington and the world’s top oil exporter.