Source: Chatham House –
Vice President Mike Pence on US-Saudi summit: ‘very real concern’ on F35 sales; criticizes Trump’s comment on Jamal Khashoggi killing
News release
jon.wallace
The former vice president also expressed support for the US–UK ‘special relationship’ and for NATO and defended his 2017-21 administration’s record.
48th Vice President of the United States Mike Pence visited Chatham House on 19 November to discuss US foreign policy, isolationism and MAGA, the ‘special relationship’, and the recent visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington DC.
During the event, the former vice president expressed concern about the sale of F35 fighter aircraft announced following the US-Saudi summit this week.
‘That’s the most advanced aircraft platform that we have,’ he said, saying the US must ‘carefully consider a transfer of that technology’ and take steps to ensure it does not become accessible to China. This was ‘a very real concern’, he added.
Asked by an audience member about President Donald Trump’s statement that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ‘knew nothing’ about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Pence said:
‘What I can tell you is that I would not have made that statement… It’s very important that we never cast aside our deep commitment to the freedom of the press’.
During his speech the former vice president highlighted the threats posed by rising isolationism in the US, President Trump’s tariffs regime, and China. He also addressed Russia’s war on Ukraine, and expressed support for the US–UK special relationship and NATO, saying that ‘our transatlantic alliance is not an artefact of the past’.
Pence stated that the US and UK are the ‘twin pillars’ of the free world, but also criticized UK government policies on migration, justice and intelligence sharing, which he stated are exploited by those in the US ‘who would say that the UK is not our friend, who would like nothing more than to see the Atlantic alliance crumble’.
Following his speech, Chatham House Director and CEO Bronwen Maddox asked whether the United States still respects the rule of law.
‘Emphatically yes,’ he answered.
Asked by Maddox whether Europe should assume that Ukraine won’t receive much more help from the United States, Pence pointed to President Trump’s apparent support for strong secondary sanctions on Russia.
‘This is a real moment of testing of the West,’ he said, ‘but I think you’ll continue to see American leadership’.
Asked if he believed that President Trump’s tariffs regime would outlast the administration, he replied:
‘I hope not,’ pointing to the Supreme Court case examining the tariffs. ‘Our constitution…provides that taxes and tariffs…can only be enacted by the Congress,’ he said, pointing out that the American revolution was, in part, sparked by opposition to tariffs on tea.
‘At the American founding, taxes on tea were kind of an issue…’ he said to laughter in the room – ‘those were tariffs’.