US President Donald Trump appears unlikely to go forward with an expected agreement to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, administration officials told the Associated Press on Sunday.
Nevertheless, the officials noted that the American president has a history of unpredictability and could yet proceed with the sale if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) convinces him.
Earlier this month, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Trump had been considering a Saudi request to purchase as many as four dozen F-35s. The request had reportedly cleared a major Pentagon hurdle ahead of MBS's visit to the US.
The Saudi crown prince is set to visit Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
Saudi F-35 could threaten Israel's qualitative military edge
The potential sale of the fighter jets to Saudi Arabia had raised concerns about Israel, which is currently the only country in the Middle East to operate F-35s, maintaining its qualitative military edge in the region, sources told The New York Times on Friday.
On Saturday, Trump said that he hoped Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords “very shortly” while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
“I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords very shortly,” Trump had said.
In October, Trump said during a television interview that he believed that "when Saudi Arabia goes in [to the Abraham Accords], everybody goes in."