UAE Confirms Trump Approved Sale Of F-35 Jets on Last Day in Office

By Staff, Agencies

The United Arab Emirates [UAE] confirmed on Thursday that former US President Donald Trump approved the sale of 50 F-35 jets to Abu Dhabi on his last day in office.   

The UAE Embassy in Washington said it inked the deal with the Trump administration on Tuesday, and included details such as costs, technical specifications, and expected delivery schedules.

The total price tag of the agreement is an estimated $23 billion, the UAE mission said, with jets valued at $10.4 billion.

The deal also includes 18 MQ-9B Reaper drones valued at $2.97 billion and other munitions valued at $10 billion, according to The Times of ‘Israel.’

“The UAE is committed to de-escalation and a new regional dialogue," the embassy statement said.

In October, the White House officially announced the arms sale to the United Arab Emirates, following lengthy talks in the wake of the Gulf state's normalization agreement with the Zionist entity earlier this year.

The Trump administration at the time informally gave a required notification to Congress on the sale.

Democrats, however, balked at the proposed agreement, with then House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel [D-NY] arguing that the deal could "significantly change the military balance in the Gulf and affect the ‘Israeli’ entity’s military edge."

The UAE sought the advanced warplanes as it spoke to the United States ahead of its recognition of the occupation entity last month. The unashamed normalization was followed by similar moves by Bahrain and Sudan.