Arabia

United States President Donald Trump “looks at Saudi Arabia like a piggy bank or an ATM machine” and that’s why the recent Saudi-US summit focused on deals instead of strategic regional issues, such as Sudan, Palestine, Iran and Syria, argues political scientist Gregory Gause, professor emeritus of international affairs at Texas A&M University.

Gause tells host Steve Clemons that if Riyadh can seal a deal to house a joint AI data centre, “that’s the best guarantee of US security.”

He adds that China may be Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer but the US is Riyadh’s “preferred partner on security, AI, economics and defence cooperation”.

US President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to the White House, declaring the Kingdom a major non-NATO ally and signaling a push to deepen US-Saudi ties. Here’s what we know about what they agreed on.

President Donald Trump has designated Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally of the United States during a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, DC, where the two leaders reached agreements covering arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

During a formal black-tie dinner at the White House on Tuesday evening, Trump made the announcement that he was taking “military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally”.

Trump said the designation was “something that is very important to them, and I’m just telling you now for the first time because I wanted to keep a little secret for tonight”.

The designation means a US partner benefits from military and economic privileges but it does not entail security commitments.

Saudi Arabia and the US also signed a “historic strategic defence agreement”, Trump said.

A White House fact sheet said the defence agreement, “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East”, makes it easier for US defence firms to operate in Saudi Arabia and secures “new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray US costs”.

The White House also announced that Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia while the kingdom had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.

“I’m pleased to announce that we are taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally.” – President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/PXXGGCBPGU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 19, 2025

Saudi F-35 deal raises questions about Israel’s ‘qualitative military edge’

Saudi Arabia’s purchase of the stealth fighter jets would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter planes to Riyadh. The kingdom has reportedly requested to buy 48 of the aircraft.

The move is seen as a significant policy shift by Washington that could alter the military balance of power in the Middle East, where US law states that Israel must maintain a “qualitative military edge”.

Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35 until now.

Asked by Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett about the impact of the jet fighter deal on Israel’s “qualitative military edge”, Trump said he was aware that Israel would prefer that Riyadh receive warplanes of “reduced calibre”.

“I don’t think that makes you too happy,” Trump said, addressing the crown prince, who was seated beside him in the White House.

“They’ve been a great ally. Israel’s been a great ally. … As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line,” Trump said of the F-35 deal.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said part of the almost $1 trillion investment in the US announced by Prince Mohammed included $142bn for the procurement of the F-35 fighter jets, “the most advanced of their kind in the world”.

Fisher also said the Israeli government and lobbyists had tried to block the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia.

The agreements announced were about “much more” than Saudi investment in the US, he added.

“It’s about helping each other’s economy, business and defence. Politics isn’t near the top of the agenda, but both countries believe these deals could create a political reset in the Middle East,” Fisher said.

‘A clear path’ for Palestinian state

The two countries also signed a joint declaration on the completion of negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House said would build the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership with Riyadh.

Israeli officials had suggested that they would not be opposed to Saudi Arabia getting F-35s as long as Saudi Arabia normalises relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework.

The Saudis, however, have said they would join the Abraham Accords but only after there is a credible and guaranteed path to Palestinian statehood, a position Prince Mohammed repeated in the meeting with Trump.

“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said.

“We’re going to work on that to be sure that we come prepared for the situation as soon as possible to have that,” he added.

US president signals major arms deal before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House.

United States President Donald Trump says he will greenlight the sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, signalling a departure in how Washington handles sophisticated weapons transfers to Arab countries.

Trump made the announcement on Monday at the White House, just one day before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is due to visit. “We’ll be selling F-35s,” the president told reporters, lauding Washington’s ties with Riyadh.

 “Yeah, I am planning on doing it. They want to buy them. They’ve been a great ally,” Trump said.

The decision marks a substantial win for Riyadh as Trump works to persuade Saudi Arabia to establish official ties with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords.

But Saudi officials have repeatedly reasserted the kingdom’s commitment to the Arab Peace Initiative, which conditions recognition of Israel on the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

The potential arms deal between Washington and Riyadh raises questions about preserving Israel’s qualitative military edge, which is enshrined in US law. Some Israeli officials have already voiced opposition to the transfer of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia.

The US has a decades-old commitment of ensuring Israel retains superior military capabilities over potential regional adversaries.

The principle, first established under President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 and formally adopted by President Ronald Reagan, has guided American arms sales in the Middle East for more than four decades.

Every US administration since has pledged to preserve Israel’s ability to emerge victorious against any likely combination of regional forces.

The F-35, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is widely regarded as the world’s most advanced fighter jet, featuring technology that makes it difficult for enemy defences to detect.

Critics in Israel have warned the sale could erode the country’s longstanding military superiority in the region.

Yair Golan, an opposition politician and former deputy chief of the Israeli army, said the move risked opening “an arms race in the Middle East” that could undermine advantages Israel has held for decades. He also blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as being “failure-prone”.

“The qualitative military edge, which has been the cornerstone of Israel’s security for many decades, is being squandered,” Golan said.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also said Israel must maintain its aerial superiority in the region.

“We are in the Middle East – we cannot get confused. We extend a hand to anyone who truly wants to extend a hand and not harm the State of Israel, but we must preserve our superiority,” he told the Jewish News Syndicate on Monday.

The timing of Trump’s announcement, just before Prince Mohammed’s visit to the White House, underscores the US administration’s efforts to deepen ties with Riyadh as part of its broader Middle East strategy.

Washington has historically managed concerns about Israel’s military edge by either downgrading weapons systems sold to Arab states or providing upgraded versions and additional equipment to Israel.

Prince Mohammed’s visit comes as the shaky ceasefire in Gaza continues amid near-daily Israeli violations.

On Monday, when asked about a potential F-35 deal with Riyadh, Trump invoked the US attack on Iran in June, which he said “obliterated” the country’s nuclear facilities.

Saudi Arabia was not involved in those strikes, but the kingdom’s official news agency, SPA, reported on Monday that Prince Mohammed received a handwritten letter from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian before his trip to Washington – without providing details about its content.

If the F-35 sale materialises, Saudi Arabia would become the first Arab country in the F-35 programme.

In 2020, Trump approved the sale of F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates after Abu Dhabi agreed to establish formal ties with Israel. But the deal fell through after Joe Biden succeeded Trump in 2021 amid concerns by US lawmakers over the security of the technology.

The US Congress can disapprove weapon sales authorised by the president and his secretary of state.

Saudi firms are reducing the large salary bonuses that used to attract foreign talent in sectors like construction and manufacturing as the kingdom adjusts its spending and economic aims, according to four recruiters interviewed by Reuters. Saudi Arabia, the leading exporter of oil, is making progress with its Vision 2030 plan, which focuses on decreasing reliance on oil revenues, generating jobs, and diversifying into industries like tourism, real estate, mining, and finance.

The nation has invested heavily in large-scale projects that increase the need for skilled foreign workers, but there have been challenges with project delivery and timelines. Foreign workers can no longer expect to negotiate high salary premiums, which could reach 40% or more, as offers are now much more modest. Recruiters note that the changes are partly due to the kingdom’s economic adjustments and an increase in available candidates eager to work in the region.

The shift in pay reflects a broader change by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which previously backed major infrastructure projects but is now leaning towards sectors like artificial intelligence, logistics, and mining for better returns. Projects like NEOM, a planned futuristic city, and the Trojena tourism hub, which will host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, face delays due to the current economic strategy.

With decreasing oil prices affecting public finances, the government’s budget continues to struggle, necessitating oil prices around $100 for balance, according to the IMF. Recruitment has slowed, and companies are now more cautious in salary negotiations, shifting their focus towards high-demand jobs in technology sectors.

In contrast to Saudi Arabia, the UAE remains a preferred choice for many skilled workers due to its tax-free salaries, established facilities like schools and healthcare, and social reforms for a more liberal lifestyle. This has made it challenging for Saudi Arabia to compete; salary differences between the two regions are minimal now. The Saudi government is pushing for labor market reforms to increase private sector jobs for citizens, which has led to record low unemployment rates among Saudi nationals. To attract top talent, companies need to offer competitive packages that account for living costs, work-life balance, and a clear project vision.

With information from Reuters

Evans held a 13-point lead over both Ogier and Rovanpera going into the Toyota City-based event.

However, the Finn’s hopes took an early blow, dropping more than five minutes on Friday after damaging his rear suspension in a collision with a barrier.

Evans began slowly, placing sixth on the opening stage, but put together back-to-back stage wins on Friday and a strong Saturday morning sequence to rise up to second just 1.4secs behind leader Ogier.

The Frenchman responded with a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon, which continued as he was also the quickest driver across the final day’s six stages – including adding a further additional five points with victory in the final bonus power stage.

“It’s obviously a perfect result,” said Ogier, who is looking to equal Sebastien Loeb’s record nine world titles.

“It’s been a challenging weekend because after the rain today nothing was certain, it was the start of a new rally this morning.

“Now, let’s go to the next one. This was a perfect weekend for us to come back so close [to Evans] and let’s hope the last one is not a lottery.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing have already secured their fifth consecutive WRC manufacturers’ title and are now guaranteed to take the top three places in the drivers’ championship.

Rovanpera, though, looks destined to finish third in his final rally season before switching to a career in circuit racing.

“Definitely not the weekend we wanted to have but sometimes it’s like this,” said the 25-year-old Finn.

“Just a bit too inconsistent with results this year.”

Saudi Arabia could become the next customer for the Lockheed Martin F-35, with the Trump administration reportedly weighing up the sale of up to 48 jets to the kingdom. Selling the stealth jet to Saudi Arabia would be a significant policy shift, with Washington previously being unwilling to export F-35s to Arab states in the region, for fear of upsetting the strategic balance in relation to Israel.

According to a Reuters report, which cites two unnamed sources said to be familiar with the matter, the U.S. administration is considering whether to approve the deal, ahead of a visit to the United States by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler. The crown prince is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on November 18. The potential deal has apparently already been given the green light by the Pentagon, where it was discussed at the highest levels for “months.”

Citing one of those sources and an unnamed U.S. official, the same report claims that Saudi Arabia made a new request for F-35s earlier this year, with a direct appeal to Trump. The U.S. official and a second U.S. official confirmed to Reuters that the weapons deal “was moving through the system,” but, before it was formally approved, it would need “further approvals at the Cabinet level, sign-off from Trump, and notification of Congress.”

Approval of the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia would be a big deal.

So far, despite previous interest both from the Saudis and from the United Arab Emirates, the United States has refused to export the stealth jets to operators in the Middle East, other than Israel.

This has been driven primarily by the U.S. requirement to maintain Israel’s so-called qualitative military edge, a guarantee that Israel will be prioritized for advanced U.S. weapons ahead of Arab states in the region.

The Israeli Air Force’s F-35I fleet is very much at the cutting edge of the country’s air warfare capabilities. Israel is currently buying 75 F-35s, and these will incorporate an increasing proportion of Israeli-made technology and weapons. The Israeli jets, known locally as Adir, have already seen extensive combat use, including against Iran.

A Saudi F-35 deal was also discussed under the Biden administration, as part of a broader deal that sought to normalize the kingdom’s relations with Israel.

While the proposal fell through, Trump has put a much greater emphasis on arms sales to Saudi Arabia since he took office earlier this year.

The centerpiece of these efforts was the roughly $142-billion arms package agreed between Washington and Riyadh in May of this year. The White House described it as “the largest defense cooperation agreement” in U.S. history. Saudi Arabia is already the biggest customer of U.S. weapons.

Whatever Trump’s view of the potential F-35 sale, there will likely be some pushback from U.S. lawmakers.

At the Congressional level, there has been previous scrutiny around arms sales to Saudi Arabia, especially after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Other nations, too, have held back from selling weapons to Saudi Arabia amid concerns over the country’s human rights abuses, as well as its role in the Yemen war.

Even without the F-35, the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) operates an extremely modern and advanced fleet of fighters. It received 84 of the new-build F-15SA, which was the most advanced variant of the Strike Eagle family available until the appearance of the Qatari F-15QA and the U.S. Air Force’s F-15EX Eagle II. Meanwhile, the 68-strong fleet of earlier F-15S aircraft has been upgraded locally to a similar standard, known as F-15SR (for Saudi Retrofit).

The RSAF also received 72 Eurofighter Typhoons. Older, but still capable, are around 80 British-supplied Panavia Tornado IDS swing-wing strike aircraft, which continue in service in the strike role.

The F-35s would be the likely replacement for the aging Tornados.

Saudi Arabia was long expected to buy more Typhoons, in a deal that would be brokered by BAE Systems of the United Kingdom. At one time, Saudi Arabia had even looked at the possibility of local assembly of these aircraft.

However, since Eurofighter is a multinational company, exports have to be approved by the other partners: Germany, Italy, and Spain. Germany — which has a stake in Eurofighter via the German arm of Airbus — has consistently blocked further Typhoon sales to Saudi Arabia, citing human rights concerns.

Meanwhile, BAE Systems and the U.K. government have tried to finalize a Saudi deal for 48 more Typhoons since 2018.

TWZ spoke to Justin Bronk, Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology at the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, for his prognosis of a potential new Saudi Typhoon deal.

“I think it’s still relatively likely,” he said, “given that the RSAF, by all accounts, is very happy with its Typhoon fleet, and particularly with the support the United Kingdom provides through BAE Systems, including training Saudi pilots in Saudi Arabia.”

Bronk also raised the possibility that a follow-on Typhoon deal could be linked to Saudi participation in the Global Combat Air Program, or GCAP, the effort under which the United Kingdom’s Tempest next-generation fighter is being developed, in partnership with Italy and Japan. However, that would be far from easy, since workshare arrangements have already been agreed between the three partners.

With a potential Typhoon deal still hanging in the air, Saudi Arabia entered talks to buy 54 Dassault Rafale multirole fighters, as we reported back in 2023. Buying a French fighter would be something of a new development for Saudi Arabia, but it would also reflect Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s aim to diversify its defense partnerships, part of the Vision 2030 modernization plan. This also calls for a continuation of the long-established security relationship with the United States.

More recently, Boeing confirmed that it was offering the F-15EX Eagle II to Saudi Arabia.

“The F-15EX is the right fit, adding critical capability for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as the country seeks to accelerate its armed forces modernization,” a Boeing spokesperson told TWZ in May 2024. “The F-15EX complements Saudi Arabia’s existing F-15 fleet with 95 percent commonality that includes infrastructure, training, and trainer devices, and pilot skill overlap. We are ready to support our longtime and valued customers in Saudi Arabia with the most capable air superiority aircraft in production today.”

It could be that a four-horse race is now on the cards, with Saudi Arabia weighing up the options of buying more Typhoons, Rafales, F-15EX, or, providing U.S. approval is forthcoming, F-35s.

The F-35 is the most capable of these options and would be the most significant in terms of the modernization of the RSAF fighter fleet. This effort is primarily driven by the threat posed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s major regional adversary, although tensions between the two powers have subsided in recent years. Increasingly, Iran has projected its power across the region, including backing militant groups but also undertaking its own extensive maritime activities in the Persian Gulf and further afield.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has also been waging a long-running campaign against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. This has seen the extensive use of RSAF fighter jets.

The only other Arab country in the region to have come close to buying F-35s was the United Arab Emirates. An arms package, approved at the end of the previous Trump administration, and valued at up to $23.37 billion, included 50 F-35As, up to 18 MQ-9B drones, and $10-billion-worth of advanced munitions. In 2021, the Emirati government reportedly said it wanted to scrap the plan, due to concerns over stringent safeguards to protect these systems against Chinese espionage.

For the RSAF, the path to receiving the F-35 is made simpler by the thawing relations between Saudi Arabia — and other Arab nations in the Middle East — and Israel. Such a deal could also be linked to the kingdom signing up to the Abraham Accords, a set of agreements that establishes normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states. The Trump administration has pushed for Saudi Arabia to sign up to the accords, which would be a huge breakthrough, following the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco.

Another possibility might be to offer Saudi Arabia less-advanced versions of the F-35, perhaps in the latest Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, configuration, but without the massive Block 4 upgrade, which supports a brand-new radar and a host of other capabilities. Secondhand jets could be another option, provided a source for these can be found.

Ultimately, Saudi Arabia may well add a fifth-generation fighter to its already impressive fourth-generation fighters, the Boeing F-15SA and Eurofighter Typhoon. With the Trump administration currently looking very much in favor of defense cooperation with Riyadh, this could be an opportune moment for the F-35 to secure its first Arab customer in the Middle East.

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