Saudi Arabia designated major non-NATO ally of US, gets F-35 warplanes deal

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US President Donald Trump hails elevation of subject practice with Saudi Arabia to 'even greater heights'.

Published On 19 Nov 2025

President Donald Trump has designated Saudi Arabia a large non-NATO state of the United States during a sojourn by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, DC, wherever the two leaders reached agreements covering arms sales, civilian atomic cooperation, artificial quality and captious minerals.

During a ceremonial black-tie meal astatine the White House connected Tuesday evening, Trump made the announcement that helium was taking “military practice to adjacent greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia arsenic a large non-NATO ally”.

Saudi F-35 woody raises questions astir Israel’s ‘qualitative subject edge’

Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of the stealth combatant jets would people the archetypal US merchantability of the precocious combatant planes to Riyadh. The kingdom has reportedly requested to bargain 48 of the aircraft.

The determination is seen arsenic a important argumentation displacement by Washington that could change the subject equilibrium of powerfulness successful the Middle East, wherever US instrumentality states that Israel indispensable support a “qualitative subject edge”.

Israel has been the lone state successful the Middle East to person the F-35 until now.

Asked by Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett astir the interaction of the pitchy combatant woody connected Israel’s “qualitative subject edge”, Trump said helium was alert that Israel would similar that Riyadh person warplanes of “reduced calibre”.

“I don’t deliberation that makes you excessively happy,” Trump said, addressing the crown prince, who was seated beside him successful the White House.

“They’ve been a large ally. Israel’s been a large ally. … As acold arsenic I’m concerned, I deliberation they are some astatine a level wherever they should get apical of the line,” Trump said of the F-35 deal.

Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the White House, said part of the astir $1 trillion investment successful the US announced by Prince Mohammed included $142bn for the procurement of the F-35 combatant jets, “the astir precocious of their benignant successful the world”.

Fisher besides said the Israeli authorities and lobbyists had tried to artifact the merchantability of F-35s to Saudi Arabia.

The agreements announced were astir “much more” than Saudi concern successful the US, helium added.

“It’s astir helping each other’s economy, concern and defence. Politics isn’t adjacent the apical of the agenda, but some countries judge these deals could make a governmental reset successful the Middle East,” Fisher said.

‘A wide path’ for Palestinian state

The 2 countries besides signed a associated declaration connected the completion of negotiations connected civilian atomic vigor cooperation, which the White House said would physique the ineligible instauration for a semipermanent atomic vigor concern with Riyadh.

Israeli officials had suggested that they would not beryllium opposed to Saudi Arabia getting F-35s arsenic agelong arsenic Saudi Arabia normalises relations with Israel nether the Abraham Accords framework.

The Saudis, however, person said they would articulation the Abraham Accords but lone aft determination is simply a credible and guaranteed way to Palestinian statehood, a presumption Prince Mohammed repeated successful the gathering with Trump.

“We privation to beryllium portion of the Abraham Accords, but we privation besides to beryllium definite that we unafraid a wide way of a two-state solution,” helium said.

“We’re going to enactment connected that to beryllium definite that we travel prepared for the concern arsenic soon arsenic imaginable to person that,” helium added.

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