Trump says ‘we’ll be selling’ F-35s to Saudi Arabia

U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTO BY SGT. APRIL L. PRICE/RELEASED

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, Marine Aircraft Group 13, 3rd Marine Air Wing, prepares to land aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex during Exercise Dawn Blitz, in October 2017. President Donald Trump said today he plans to approve the sale of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, speaking a day before he hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a day of diplomacy.

WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump said today he plans to approve the sale of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, speaking a day before he hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a day of diplomacy.

“I will say that we will be doing that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’ll be selling the F-35s.”

A sale would mark a significant policy shift, potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and testing Washington’s definition of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”

Saudi Arabia has requested to buy as many as 48 F-35 fighter jets, a potential multibillion-dollar deal that has cleared a key Pentagon hurdle ahead of bin Salman’s visit, Reuters reported early this month.

The Saudis have long been interested in Lockheed Martin’s fighter.

A senior White House official told Reuters before Trump spoke that the president wanted to talk to the crown prince about the jets, “then we’ll make a determination.”

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Additional reporting by Mike Stone.

See more:National newsPolitics

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