In an era defined by great-power rivalry, the Trump administration has chosen to sell F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, pressing forward despite formal warnings from within the U.S. intelligence community that China could exploit the transfer to acquire some of America's most closely guarded military technology. The decision is not simply an arms deal — it is a public declaration of which interests the administration places above others, and a test of how the world's leading military power navigates the tension between alliance-building and technological self-preservation. History has lon