Trump Says U.S. Intends to Sell F-35 Jet Fighters to Saudi Arabia
President Trump said Monday that the U.S. would sell advanced F-35 jet fighters to Saudi Arabia, announcing his decision the day before he meets at the White House with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We will be doing that. We will be selling F-35s,” Trump told reporters, who didn’t provide any specifics about the deal.
…
“Having these things end up in the Saudi air force several years hence without normalization would be a misuse of American leverage,” said John Hannah of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a onetime adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Israeli Air Force is equipped with the F-35, which it has used to strike targets in Iran and other targets in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia will become the only other Middle Eastern country to have the jet fighter once deliveries are made. The U.S. has a longstanding policy, which is codified in law, to maintain Israel’s “qualitative military edge” over other Middle East countries.
Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.