FPI / November 20, 2025
The U.S.-Saudi friendship achieved a new level on Nov. 18 as President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a series of diplomatic agreements, including the future sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Gulf State.
Saudi Arabia will join Israel as the only countries in the Middle East to have the F-35.
“We’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major, non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said at a dinner with the Saudi Crown Prince.
The two sides also signed a Strategic Defense Agreement, which “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East,” the White House said in an official statement.
Earlier, Trump said that the U.S. would sell F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a similar arrangement it has with Israel.
“As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line (F-35s),” Trump declared, showing that Saudi Arabia has solidified its place as a major regional power broker.
Military analysts say the sale of the stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, which has requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft, could alter the military balance in the Middle East and test Washington’s definition of maintaining what the U.S. has termed Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”
Riyadh’s message seems to be that the meetings in Washington were about much larger ties with the U.S. in defense, trade, energy, and security.
Faisal J. Abbas, the editor-in-chief of Saudi-based newspaper Arab News, wrote that the Crown Prince’s visit could set the course for the next 80 years of U.S.-Saudi ties.
This is important because Riyadh looks at the long term, including ties with the U.S. going back a century. It also looks at what comes next.
“The relationship is no longer confined to oil and security,” Abbas wrote. “Nuclear cooperation, space exploration, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies are now on the table. This is not just a bilateral upgrade – it is a strategic leap. The timing could not be more surreal: Vision 2030 and Make America Great Again are aligned in ambition, scope and urgency.”
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.
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