- Trump last month ordered a resumption of nuclear weapons testing.
- He says Saudi Ariabia wants to buy a lot of planes and is looking into it.
- Trump’s lawyers have threatened to sue the BBC for damages of up to $1 billion.
The United States will resume nuclear testing, like other countries, President Donald Trump said Friday, while confirming he was considering a possible deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 fighter jets.
He did not say whether the testing plans involved detonating a nuclear warhead.
“I don’t want to tell you about it, but we will do nuclear tests like other countries,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to Florida for the weekend.
Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to immediately restart the nuclear weapons testing process after 33 years, making the surprise announcement on Truth Social while aboard his Marine One helicopter en route to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a trade talks session in Busan, South Korea.
An agreement on the F-35 with Saudi Arabia in sight
Trump also said Friday he was considering a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, made by Lockheed Martin.
“They want to buy a lot of planes,” Trump told reporters.
“I’m looking at this. They asked me to look at it. They want to buy a lot of ’35s’ – but they actually want to buy more than that, fighter jets.”
The potential sale comes as Trump plans to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House next week, when they are expected to sign economic and defense deals.
Asked about the discussions, Trump told reporters it was “more than a meeting, we honor” Saudi Arabia.
At the same time, President Trump is expected to strike a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, allowing Riyadh to acquire F-35 stealth fighter jets. Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing a White House official.
Trump and the crown prince plan to sign economic and defense deals during a visit to the White House scheduled for Tuesday, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify this information.
A Pentagon intelligence report raised concerns about the potential F-35 deal, warning that China could acquire the jet’s technology if the sale goes through, the Foreign Ministry said. New York Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the assessment.
Legal action against the BBC
President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he will file a lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation next week.
The BBC issued a personal apology to President Trump on Thursday, but said there was no legal basis for him to sue the public broadcaster over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory.
The documentary, broadcast on the BBC news program “Panorama” just before the 2024 US presidential election, brought together three parts of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol. The editing made it appear as if he had called for violence.
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the music video was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim,” the channel said in a statement.
The US president’s lawyers on Sunday threatened to sue the BBC for damages of up to $1 billion unless it removes the documentary, apologizes to the president and compensates him for “financial and reputational harm”.
