The US plans to sell advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, one of several deals expected to emerge from today’s talks between their leaders.
While US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Oval Office meeting may result in the defense sale — and potentially a civil nuclear deal — bigger issues are still in flux.
With the Middle East security order changing fast, Riyadh is pushing for a US security guarantee and is publicly pivoting away from Beijing in order to deepen ties with Washington. Separately, as Semafor’s Gulf Editor notes in an upcoming column, an obsolete narrative of bottomless Saudi oil wealth is butting up against the reality that Riyadh, like Washington, is courting foreign investment.
