US President Donald Trump received Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House with the highest honors, including a cannon salute, a parade of horses, and the flyover of six fighter jets, including the F-35 that Riyadh aspires to purchase from Washington. This is bin Salman's first trip to the US since 2018, the year journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. The meeting began with a ceremony on the portico and south lawn of the presidential mansion, where an orange carpet and a guard of honor awaited the prince. Both leaders will hold a private bilateral meeting, a working lunch, and conclude the day with a gala dinner at the White House with a delegation of business leaders. In turn, bin Salman expressed his desire for Washington to authorize the sale of F-35s, the world's most advanced stealth fighter jets, to his country. Trump, for his part, wants to pressure bin Salman to join the Abraham Accords, although Saudi Arabia has made it clear it will not do so without a credible and irreversible path to the creation of a Palestinian state.
