Randy Fine, a Florida congressman, is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Judea and Samaria Caucus. He told Washington Watch he has no problem with Tuesday’s White House visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the defacto ruler of Saudi Arabia.
“Look, Saudi Arabia is with us in the fight against Iran and so we need them to be protected from that terrorist regime,” Fine told show host Tony Perkins. “As we want peace in the Middle East, I think getting Saudi Arabia and Israel together down the line will bring the kind of peace to that area of the world that we've sought for generations.”
Saudi Arabia is getting ready to spend almost $1 trillion in the U.S., most of that in the defense and technology sectors. Salman had previously agreed to a $600 billion investment during President Donald Trump’s Middle East tour earlier this year but upped the amount Tuesday.
During bin Salman’s visit, Saudia Arabia became the 20th nation on the U.S.’ major non-NATO ally list.
There is talk of a strategic defense pact: deeper military cooperation, more intelligence sharing, potentially binding security guarantees.
For Sale: F-35s
The biggest takeaway, however, was the announcement that the U.S. will sell F-35 stealth jets to Saudi Arabia, the first time the jets would be sold to a Middle Eastern country other than Israel (pictured below).
The sale would require Congressional approval.
“I think we’re going to take a long hard look at it,” Fine said. “It’s certainly something I’m open to taking a look at.”
I
srael and Saudi Arabia have not been direct enemies in the traditional sense, nor have they fought a direct war. However, their relationship has been defined by official hostility, indirect conflict, and recent strategic alignment.
Reports confirm regular meetings between Saudi and Israeli intelligence officials, especially since the 2010s, focusing on countering Iran and Hezbollah.
In April 2024, Saudi Arabia joined a U.S.-led coalition (including Jordan and the UAE) that helped intercept Iranian drones and missiles targeting Israel. This marked a rare, public instance of de facto military cooperation.
It’s not only the relationship between the Saudis and Israel that has come into question. The Crown Prince’s visit has raised ethical concerns for many.
Fifteen of the 19 9-11 hijackers were confirmed as citizens of Saudi Arabia.
Also, a U.S. intelligence report in 2021 claimed that bin Salman directly approved the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who lived in Virginia in 2018.
The declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said intelligence officials based its assessment on the fact that bin Salman has "control of decision making" in the kingdom.
The report confirms initial assessments made by the CIA in the weeks after Khashoggi's death, that bin Salman ordered the dissident's death.
Trump interrupted an ABC News reporter who tried to question bin Salman about Khashoggi on Tuesday.
“Look, I think they're fair questions. I don't think Saudi Arabia has clean hands. I think a lot of the people that President Trump has chosen to engage with may have done things in the past that we may not like. The question is how do we move forward?” Fine asked.
Trump’s bear hug approach
Saudi Arabia is not the first country Trump has sought to charm into support for his agenda.
He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August in an effort to end the war in Ukraine which continues today. Trump called the meeting a “great and very successful day” while rating it a “10.”
He met with China President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Oct. 30, later describing Jinping as the “great leader of a great country.”
“What you've seen this President do is embrace these countries with a bear hug to try to bring them closer to the United States, whether it's Syria, whether it's Qatar, whether it's Saudi Arabia,” Fine said.
It’s a worthwhile strategy, he said.
“They have done bad things, but I think we can either push them away or we can try to bring them towards us, and I think that's what the president's trying to do,” Fine said.
