WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

said on Monday he plans to approve the sale of U.S.-made F-35

fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, speaking a day before he hosts

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a day of diplomacy.

"I will say that we will be doing that," Trump told

reporters in the Oval Office. "We'll be selling the F-35s."

A sale would mark a significant policy shift,

potentially altering the military balance in the Middle East and

testing Washington's definition of maintaining Israel's

"qualitative military edge."

Saudi Arabia has requested to buy as many as 48 F-35

fighter jets, a potential multibillion-dollar deal that has

cleared a key Pentagon hurdle ahead of bin Salman's visit,

Reuters reported early this month

.

The Saudis have long been interested in Lockheed Martin's ( LMT )

fighter.

A senior White House official told Reuters before Trump

spoke that the president wanted to talk to the crown prince

about the jets, "then we'll make a determination."