F-35 sale to Saudi, $1 trillion investment in US, remarks on Khashoggi, Osama bin Laden

PRESIDENT Donald Trump offered a warm welcome to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House on Tuesday.

The meeting was friendly, featuring many handshakes and back pats. Trump downplayed questions about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, instead praising the prince’s leadership. He also revealed that Saudi Arabia would make hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments in the United States.

The White House arranged significant pageantry for the Saudi royal. This included an honour guard on horseback, a display of fighter jets the two leaders watched from a red carpet, and an elaborate dinner in the East Room.

Trump-MBS meeting: A look at 9 key takeaways

1) Trump had hinted at his decision to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia on Sunday but made it official in front of the prince on Tuesday, stating that the approval was finalised and that Israel’s concerns about maintaining its qualitative military edge in the Middle East would be addressed.

“As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line. Israel’s aware and they’re going to be very happy,” AP quoted Trump as saying.

2. Israeli officials have indicated they would not object to Saudi Arabia acquiring F-35 jets, provided Riyadh normalises relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework. For their part, the Saudis have said they would sign the Accords only if there is a credible, guaranteed path toward Palestinian statehood, a stance Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman reiterated during the meeting.

“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we also want to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution. We’re going to work on that to be sure that we come prepared for the situation as soon as possible to have that.”

3. Trump also announced that the US and Saudi Arabia would finalise a broader military and security agreement during the visit and proceed with a civilian nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which has also raised concerns in Israel.

4. Trump designated Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally. According to Bloomberg, the designation, given to nations with close strategic ties to the US, grants financing and priority access to certain military equipment purchases, along with the ability to engage in joint research initiatives.

5. The two countries signed an agreement for Saudi Arabia to purchase nearly 300 tanks from the US.

6. Tuesday marked the crown prince’s first White House visit since the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. US intelligence agencies have indicated that Prince Mohammed Bin Salman likely approved the killing, a report by AP noted.

Trump described Khashoggi, a Saudi pro-democracy activist, “extremely controversial” and mentioned “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he (the crown prince) knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that”.

Prince Mohammad, nicknamed MBS, who has refuted involvement in Khashoggi's killing, responded that his government had taken action. He stated, “It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We did all the right steps of investigation, etc., in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again. And it’s painful, and it was a huge mistake.”

7. The White House visit and associated agreements, including a broad Saudi commitment to raise investment in the US from $600 billion to $1 trillion, represent significant achievements for the Crown Prince.

8. MBS said Osama bin Laden orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to sabotage US–Saudi ties, and claimed that anyone who argues otherwise is essentially helping that objective. “Osama Bin Laden used Saudi people for 9/11 to destroy US-Saudi relations; doing our best not to let it happen again,” PTI quoted MBS as saying.

9. Trump also announced that the US and Saudi Arabia had reached a deal on artificial intelligence, following tense negotiations over the kingdom’s request for access to advanced chips.