WASHINGTON — President Trump abruptly announced Thursday he is conditioning a newly agreed nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia on Riyadh agreeing to join the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel.
Trump’s newly announced prerequisite on Thursday came after Washington and Riyadh cut a deal in which the US would provide the Saudis with technical know-how for a civilian nuclear program.
Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump speaks at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on November 19, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
“The Civil Nuclear Deal (There will be no enrichment of material!) being made between the United States Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, which pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and UAE (and others) already have, will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
“The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities.”
(L-R) Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and other leaders of the oil-rich country have long made clear that Riyadh won’t normalize relations with Israel without the creation of or concrete steps toward a Palestinian state.
