- Last month, Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons testing.
- He says that Saudi Ariabia wants to buy many planes and is investigating it.
- Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for damages of up to $1 billion.
The United States will resume nuclear testing in line with other nations, President Donald Trump said Friday, while confirming that he is weighing a possible deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 fighter jets.
He did not clarify whether the test plans involve the detonation of a nuclear warhead.
“I don’t want to tell you about it, but we will do nuclear testing like other countries,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to Florida over the weekend.
Last month, Trump ordered the US 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 flying to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for a trade negotiation session in Busan, South Korea.
F-35s negotiate with Saudi Arabia in sight
Trump also said Friday that he is considering a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with F-35 stealth fighter jets, made by Lockheed Martin.
“They want to buy a lot of airplanes,” Trump told reporters.
“I’m looking at that. 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 host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House next week, when they are expected to sign economic and defense deals.
When asked about the talks, Trump told reporters they were “more than a meeting, we’re honoring” Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to reach a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that would allow 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 the report.
A Pentagon intelligence report has raised concerns about the possible F-35 deal, warning that China could acquire the plane’s technology if the sale goes through, Reuters news agency reported. New York Times reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the assessment.
Legal action against the BBC
President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he will take legal action against the British Broadcasting Corporation next week.
The BBC sent 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, which aired on the BBC’s “Panorama” news program just before the 2024 US presidential election, stitched together three parts of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol. The editing created the impression that he had called for violence.
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the way the video was edited, we do not agree that there is a basis for a defamation claim,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Lawyers for the US president threatened on Sunday to sue the BBC for up to $1 billion in damages unless it pulled the documentary, apologized to the president and compensated it for “financial and reputational damages.”
