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Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025
Outside the box.
Tensions Rise in Trump–MBS White House Meeting Over Israel Normalisation
President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a civil yet difficult discussion as U.S. pushes Riyadh to join the Abraham Accords
President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met at the White House last week in a high-stakes session centred on Middle East diplomacy, defence ties and investment.
While the public display was cordial, U.S. officials described the private conversation as tense, driven by the U.S. expectation that Saudi Arabia should move toward normalising relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords now that the Gaza war has ended.
Trump made clear ahead of the meeting that he viewed Saudi–Israeli normalisation as a key component of his broader Middle East strategy, and he told bin Salman he hoped to see progress.
Saudi Arabia responded by stating it was open to normalization but insisted that a clear pathway to a Palestinian state must be established first — a condition not accepted by Israel.
Alongside this umbrella diplomatic push, Trump publicly reaffirmed that Saudi Arabia would be offered the same F-35 fighter jet technology as Israel, signalling deepening military ties despite concerns in Jerusalem about safeguarding Israel’s qualitative military advantage.
The move reflects an evolving U.S.–Saudi alignment in which high-end arms transfers are decoupled from immediate diplomatic outcomes.
Notably, Trump did not address the ongoing U.S. lawsuit by 9/11 victims’ families against Saudi Arabia during the meeting, even though a U.S. judge recently allowed the case to proceed on the basis of Saudi involvement in the attacks.
Observers suggest the omission highlights how strategic and economic priorities are ostensibly supplanting human-rights grievances in the bilateral agenda.
For now, the US–Saudi discussion ends in dynamic ambiguity: Riyadh remains committed to normalisation but with conditions; Washington is advancing its investment-and-defence partnership without waiting for diplomatic payoff; and Israel awaits concrete assurances that its security edge remains intact even as its nearest neighbour negotiates elite U.S. military access.
While the public display was cordial, U.S. officials described the private conversation as tense, driven by the U.S. expectation that Saudi Arabia should move toward normalising relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords now that the Gaza war has ended.
Trump made clear ahead of the meeting that he viewed Saudi–Israeli normalisation as a key component of his broader Middle East strategy, and he told bin Salman he hoped to see progress.
Saudi Arabia responded by stating it was open to normalization but insisted that a clear pathway to a Palestinian state must be established first — a condition not accepted by Israel.
Alongside this umbrella diplomatic push, Trump publicly reaffirmed that Saudi Arabia would be offered the same F-35 fighter jet technology as Israel, signalling deepening military ties despite concerns in Jerusalem about safeguarding Israel’s qualitative military advantage.
The move reflects an evolving U.S.–Saudi alignment in which high-end arms transfers are decoupled from immediate diplomatic outcomes.
Notably, Trump did not address the ongoing U.S. lawsuit by 9/11 victims’ families against Saudi Arabia during the meeting, even though a U.S. judge recently allowed the case to proceed on the basis of Saudi involvement in the attacks.
Observers suggest the omission highlights how strategic and economic priorities are ostensibly supplanting human-rights grievances in the bilateral agenda.
For now, the US–Saudi discussion ends in dynamic ambiguity: Riyadh remains committed to normalisation but with conditions; Washington is advancing its investment-and-defence partnership without waiting for diplomatic payoff; and Israel awaits concrete assurances that its security edge remains intact even as its nearest neighbour negotiates elite U.S. military access.
