While U.S. President Donald Trump continues his goal of bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will hold official talks at the White House tomorrow. As this will be his first visit to the U.S. since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the meeting carries significant diplomatic importance.
According to information reported by Middle East Eye, the Crown Prince—arriving in Washington with 18 aircraft and a large delegation of around one thousand people—is preparing to present the Trump administration with a comprehensive list of demands. The main topics of the visit are expected to include the sale of F-35 fighter jets, a U.S.–Saudi security agreement, artificial intelligence technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, and potential steps toward normalisation with Israel. It is stated that Trump is ready to make advanced U.S. defence technologies and nuclear capabilities a subject of negotiation.
Meanwhile, according to a report by Axios based on diplomatic sources, Israel has indicated it will not object to the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, but the sale should be conditional on Riyadh normalising relations with Israel. An Israeli official, recalling their stance on Türkiye’s involvement in the F-35 programme, said: “We approach Saudi Arabia possessing such weapons systems with less concern if regional security cooperation is strengthened within the framework of the Abraham Accords.”
Saudi Arabia, however, insists that concrete and realistic progress must be achieved on the Palestinian issue before normalisation. A potential F-35 supply to Riyadh has sparked debate in Israel over whether “the region’s military balance could be affected.”
The outcomes of the meeting between Crown Prince Salman and President Trump are expected to be decisive for both the balance of power in the Middle East and the future of the Abraham Accords.
