Trump throws newly signed Saudi nuclear deal into doubt with Israel recognition demand

The White House threw a US-Saudi Arabia nuclear deal into question on Thursday, a day after it was signed, emphasising that it depended on the oil-rich Gulf country recognising Israel under a 2020 diplomatic initiative. “The Civil Nuclear Deal … will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” US President Donald Trump wrote on social media, adding that the deal would not include enrichment and involve only non-military use of nuclear energy. The demand immediately cast doubt on the agreement because Riyadh has long refused to normalise relations with Israel without a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood, a position that has hardened since the Gaza war. The added stipulation appeared designed to appease increasingly wary lawmakers and voters, analysts said, as his Mideast war drags on, justified as essential to prevent nuclear proliferation. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on Trump’s messaging a few hours later. “Look, this is a condition that the president has spoken about many times with our Gulf and Arab allies,” Leavitt said at a press briefing. The huge death toll in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel has only reinforced Saudi Arabia’s stance on ties with Israel, analysts said. Adding to the confusion were questions over whether Riyadh knew about the newly revealed condition given that there was no mention of it in Wednesday’s announcement. Reporting suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a major role in convincing Trump to start the war that has seen the US become increasingly entrenched, an issue Leavitt addressed on Thursday, however obliquely. “The president is always the final deal maker, as you know,” Leavitt said, citing Trump’s long-standing support for the accord, adding that the new condition was not added at Netanyahu’s insistence: “Not to my knowledge, no.” On Thursday, Netanyahu quickly weighed in, saying formal recognition by Riyadh would represent a “historic leap forward for peace in the Middle East”. The latest twist followed the US announcement on Wednesday that the civilian nuclear programme, including safeguards, would involve two agreements, one on “peaceful nuclear cooperation” and another on “bilateral safeguards”. These were signed by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. “Together, these two agreements lay the legal foundation for a decades-long, multibillion-dollar partnership,” the US agency said in a statement, while not immediately making the text of the deals public. The move comes as the US and Israel remain at war with Iran over concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme, an issue that continues to stall peace talks. The Abraham Accords are US-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term as president, aimed at normalising relations with Israel, with the president hoping the kingdom would sign them. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became the first Arab states to recognise Israel in over 25 years when they signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, with Morocco and Sudan also signing. Analysts say the chance of Riyadh agreeing to the new terms was low, despite Trump’s self-congratulatory deal-making skills. Thursday’s wrench in the gears comes as Trump’s broader Mideast policy faces growing pushback at home. Republicans have remained largely supportive, at least publicly, despite growing US unpopularity over the Iran war and its apparent widening. In recent days, potential attacks by the Iranian proxy Houthis on tanker traffic have put Saudi oil shipments from the Red Sea port of Yanbu at risk. Democrats, meanwhile, have displayed no such reserve even as they predict a political backlash. Most forecasters currently favour the party to win back the House in November, while control of the Senate remains more competitive. In Congress this week, Democrat lawmakers compared the merits – and potential pitfalls – of the Saudi nuclear deal to a similar one forged with Iran negotiated under an “Atoms for Peace” programme in 1957. Two decades later, that “civilian” technology fell into the hands of Tehran’s anti-American Islamic regime following the Shah’s downfall in 1979. “Saudi Arabia is not agreeing to the additional inspections that could make sure the programme is not used to develop a nuclear weapon,” said Brad Sherman, a Democratic congressman from California, challenging US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz on Thursday. “We have no idea who will be running Saudi Arabia 10 years from now.” Sherman accused the Trump administration of being hypocritical, although analysts note that Saudi civilian nuclear negotiations have been under way for decades under presidents from both parties. “We are bombing Iran because they insist upon enriching and reprocessing. We are entering into an agreement with Saudi Arabia giving them the green light to reprocess and to enrich,” he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The only difference I see here is that Westinghouse is [standing to make a lot of money] on this deal, whereas the Iranians were not enriching American companies.” At the same hearing, Democrats warned that an administration that has resisted oversight or congressional briefings on its policies – including the details of this deal – should brace for more scrutiny after the midterm election. “November is coming for you and this administration,” California Democrat Ted Lieu told Waltz after the ambassador appeared to understate the number of US casualties. “What goes around comes around,” added William Keating, a Democrat from Massachusetts, after Republicans on the committee attempted to curtail Democrats’ questioning time.