A meeting between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) last week turned tense when the discussion moved to the desert Kingdom joining the Abraham Accords and normalising relations with Israel, two U.S. officials have confirmed to a media outlet.
President Trump had hoped his meeting with MBS would lead to a breakthrough toward Saudi-Israeli normalisation since the genocide in Gaza on ‘temporary hold with a ceasefire’, a source had told the outlet.
Trump was disappointed that MBS did not agree to normalising relations with Israel despite being told by White House officials that the President expected “progress” on Abraham Accords.
During the Nov. 18 meeting, Trump raised the issue and pressed hard for MBS to join the Abraham Accords, a pact that started in 2020 and involved normalising relations between Israel and several key Arab nations. This had become a major diplomatic victory for Trump’s first tenure.
When Israel came up, the conversation became tense, officials say. MBS pushed back, explaining to Trump that although he wants to do move forward with normalisation with Israel, he couldn’t do so now because Saudi public opinion is highly anti-Israel in the aftermath of the genocide in Gaza. He said Saudi society isn’t ready for such a move.
Trump and MBS were civil but the conversation was tough, the outlet reported.
“The best way to say, it is disappointment and irritation. The president really wants them to join the Abraham Accord. He tried very hard to talk him. It was an honest discussion. But MBS is a strong man. He stood his ground,” the source said.
MBS demanded that in return for a peace deal with Saudi Arabia, Israel should agree to “an irreversible, credible and time-bound path” for a Palestinian state. MBS also made that clear publicly, after the meeting.
“MBS never said no to normalisation. The door is open for doing it later. But the two-state solution is an issue,” a U.S. official said.
“Now that Iran’s nuclear program has been totally obliterated and the war in Gaza has ended, it is very important to President Trump that all Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords, which will advance peace in the region,” one White House official said.
During the meeting with the press last week, Trump told MBS he will supply Saudi Arabia with the same advanced model of the F-35 fighter jets that Israel has, despite pushback from the Israelis.
But a day later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and assured him that wasn’t the case. U.S. and Israeli officials told the news outlet that Rubio told Netanyahu the Saudis will get a downgraded version of the F-35.
Rubio, the officials said, will have talks with Israel to make sure the F-35 deal with Saudi Arabia doesn’t undermine the Israel Defense Forces’ qualitative military edge (QME), which is a commitment set in U.S. law.
“We told the Israelis we are committed to the QME and we are not going to violate it,” a U.S. official said.