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Russia Could 'Exploit' US, Saudi F-35 Deal, Says Riggleman
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November 18, 2025
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10:19Now PlayingDenver Riggleman, former representative from Virginia and CEO of RIIG, says that the Trump administration's decision to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia opens the US up to intelligence exploitation by other countries doing deals with the Saudis, including Russia.
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.
US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as the pair met to announce a deepening of economic ties at the White House.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said when asked about Khashoggi alongside the Saudi prince in the Oval Office. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”
The comments represent a sweeping official rehabilitation for MBS, as Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader is known, after a US intelligence report in 2021 implicated the 40-year-old royal in the death of Khashoggi, who was killed in a Saudi consulate in Turkey seven years ago. That finding soured relations between the oil-rich kingdom and many longstanding Western allies — including Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
In contrast, Trump told reporters Tuesday that MBS had done an “incredible” job on human rights.
The two leaders said they expected talks around the Crown Prince’s visit to Washington to focus on expanding Saudi Arabia’s investment in the US to as much as $1 trillion from a purported $600 billion previously. Trump said the US was likely to approve a defense agreement with Riyadh — without giving further detail — and a civil nuclear deal.
He reiterated that Washington would sell F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, adding that Israel, which had opposed the move, would “be happy.”
Israel, the chief US ally in the Middle East, is the only state in the region that has the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made advanced military jets and had wanted to keep that monopoly. However, Trump’s say-so is just an initial step in what’s likely to require years of negotiations, with Washington wary about the technology being shared elsewhere, particularly with China.
Trump also said the leaders expected to agree on the sale of some advanced artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabia, though negotiations are ongoing.
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