Riyadh
\nUnited States President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is considering agreeing to a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, which are made by Lockheed Martin.
\n\u201cThey wanna buy a lot of jets,\u201d Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. \u201cI\u2019m looking at that. They\u2019ve asked me to look at it. They want to buy a lot of \u201835\u2019 \u2014 but they want to buy actually more than that, fighter jets.\u201d
\nThe potential sale comes as Trump plans to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House next week, when they are expected to sign economic and defence agreements.
\nAsked about the talks, Trump told reporters it was \u201cmore than meeting, we\u2019re honouring\u201d Saudi Arabia.
\nHe repeated that he hoped Saudi Arabia would soon join the Abraham Accords, which have normalised relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations.
\nRiyadh has resisted such a step absent agreement on a roadmap to Palestinian statehood.
\nA Pentagon intelligence report has raised concerns over the potential F-35 deal, warning that China could acquire the aircraft\u2019s technology if the sale proceeds, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the assessment.
\nTrump and the crown prince may also discuss a US-Saudi defence agreement. The Financial Times reported about a month ago that there were hopes the two countries could sign such an agreement during Salman\u2019s visit.
\nThe Saudis have sought formal US guarantees to defend the kingdom as well as access to more advanced US weaponry.
\nSaudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for US arms, and the two countries have maintained strong ties for decades based on an arrangement in which the kingdom delivers oil and Washington provides security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Riyadh United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is considering agreeing to a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, which are made by Lockheed Martin. \u201cThey wanna buy a lot of jets,\u201d Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. \u201cI\u2019m looking at that. They\u2019ve asked me to look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-514809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n