The tense conversation with bin Salman: "Trump was disappointed and angry."

 

The meeting held last Tuesday between Trump and the Saudi crown prince, which was supposed to mark a turning point in relations between Riyadh and Jerusalem, developed into a tense conversation.

US officials described the conversation as "difficult."

They said that Trump came to the meeting expecting significant progress in the normalization with Israel.

However, the crown prince remained firm, stating that the Saudi public "is not ready" for such a move at this time.

Trump strongly disliked his response.

The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Netanyahu and clarified that Saudi Arabia would only receive a "downgraded" version of the F-35, while fully maintaining the qualitative military edge (QME) of the IDF, as required by US law.