Mike Pence has Concerns About President Trump's Decision to Sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia

Mike Pence, Donald Trump’s first-term vice president, said he was worried about the potential sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia without concrete guarantees that the technology embedded in the world’s most advanced fighter would be kept secure.

The comments came ahead of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the White House on Tuesday. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday evening that he would move forward with the sale to Saudi Arabia, which he called “a great ally.”

“I have concerns about the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia or any nation that could not assure the United States that technology, and the great advancements that we’ve made with the F-35, don’t fall into the hands of nations that are hostile to our interests,” the former vice president said in a Bloomberg Television interview in London. Pence said he was confident the president would make a decision that protected American interests.

It’s not the only issue on which the former vice president has diverged with President Trump on foreign policy. Regarding China, Pence identified TikTok and the revenue-sharing agreement on Nvidia’s chip sales as security risks.

“I have concerns with the administration allowing TikTok to continue, despite the fact Congress and the previous administration passed a law saying it must be sold or banned within a set period of time,” he said.

Pence was a staunch ally of the President but fell out with his onetime boss over the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The then-vice president refused to block the certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential win. Protesters in the mob of Trump supporters who marched on the Capitol that day chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.”

Pence sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 but left the race early after his campaign failed to gain traction.

On tariffs, the former vice president lauded them as a tool to bring China to the negotiating table during the first Trump administration but criticized their use on American allies.

“The President’s unilateral tariffs imposed on friend and foe alike, I think have been contrary to the long-term interests and prosperity of the West,” he said.

However, Pence advocated the use of secondary sanctions on countries purchasing energy from Russia.

“The time has come for the United States Senate to put strong secondary sanctions on President Trump’s desk, sanctions on countries that are purchasing energy from Russia that are literally through those purchases fueling Russian war machine,” he said.

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