The meeting between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) last week got heated when they discussed the possibility of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel, two U.S. officials and one source with knowledge of the situation told Axios.
Why it matters: With the war in Gaza over, Trump hoped his meeting with MBS would lead to a breakthrough toward Saudi-Israeli normalization.
- Both praised each other publicly and didn't show any daylight between them, but parts of their closed meeting were tense. Trump was disappointed to hear the pushback from MBS, officials say.
Behind the scenes: White House officials told the crown prince ahead of the meeting that Trump expected progress on normalizing Saudi relations with Israel.
- During the Nov. 18 meeting, Trump was the one who raised the issue and pressed hard MBS to join the Abraham Accords, U.S. officials say.
- The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and several other Arab nations. They were a key foreign policy achievement in Trump's first term.
- At that point the conversation got tense, the officials say. As Trump pressed, MBS pushed back.
- MBS explained to Trump that although he wants to do move forward with normalization with Israel, he can't do so now because Saudi public opinion is highly anti-Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza war. He said Saudi society isn't ready for such a move now, the three sources told Axios.
Trump and MBS were civil but the conversation was tough, one source with knowledge of the meeting and a U.S. official said.
- "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.
- Israel's government opposes any path for a Palestinian state.
- "MBS never said no to normalization. The door is open for doing it later. But the two-state solution is an issue," a U.S. official said.
What they're saying: A White House official said Trump has outlined his vision of a prosperous Middle East, which includes expanding the Abraham Accords.
- "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," the White House official said.
- The Saudi embassy didn't respond to a request for comment.
State of play: During their remarks to 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 Axios 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) — a commitment codified 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.
Between the lines: During his meeting with MBS, Trump didn't raise the terrorism lawsuit that 9/11 victims' families filed against Saudi Arabia. A judge recently allowed the lawsuit to go forward, citing overwhelming evidence of the kingdom's complicity in the attack that killed 2,977 people.
