President Trump has introduced a last-minute condition to a landmark civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, declaring the deal contingent on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel. The move, announced on social media days after the agreement was formally signed, has injected new uncertainty into a partnership already drawing scrutiny over the Trump family’s expanding business ties to the kingdom. The condition arrives as Washington simultaneously wages an air campaign against Iran over its own nuclear ambitions.
Story Highlights
- Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed a “123 agreement” and accompanying safeguards agreement on nuclear cooperation Wednesday.
- Trump declared on social media that the deal is “totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining” the Abraham Accords, a condition not included in the original agreement.
- U.S. officials say the deal leaves open the possibility that Saudi Arabia could eventually enrich uranium domestically, though Trump has disputed that characterization.
- The agreement must be reviewed by Congress under the Atomic Energy Act, with lawmakers holding 90 days to issue a resolution of disapproval.
What Happened
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, had signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, commonly referred to as a 123 agreement, along with an accompanying bilateral safeguards agreement. The Energy Department described the pact as laying the legal groundwork for a “decades-long, multi-billion-dollar partnership” advancing economic, strategic, and nonproliferation objectives, with American companies designated as Saudi Arabia’s preferred partners for developing civil nuclear infrastructure.
Just one day later, President Trump introduced a significant new condition that was not part of the original agreement. In a Thursday social media post, Trump wrote that the deal was contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, the framework established during his first term under which several Arab nations normalized diplomatic relations with Israel. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed at a subsequent briefing that the administration considers this condition binding, telling reporters the energy deal “is contingent on this condition as far as the president is concerned.”
The addition is politically significant because Saudi Arabia has consistently resisted normalizing ties with Israel absent a credible pathway toward Palestinian statehood, a position the kingdom has maintained publicly for years. Two U.S. officials told ABC News that despite Trump’s insistence there would be no uranium enrichment allowed under the deal, the actual language leaves open the possibility that Saudi Arabia could eventually enrich uranium domestically for its reactors, a detail that has raised nonproliferation concerns among some lawmakers and regional security analysts.
The nuclear agreement did not emerge in isolation. It follows a broader pattern of expanding U.S.-Saudi economic and defense cooperation, including a previously announced $600 billion investment package covering artificial intelligence, defense capabilities, and infrastructure, as well as a separate agreement advancing the sale of F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom. Under the Atomic Energy Act, the nuclear pact must now be submitted to Congress, which has 90 days to review it and could theoretically block the agreement through a resolution of disapproval, though such a resolution would require a veto-proof majority in both chambers, making rejection unlikely.
The agreement has also drawn attention because of the Trump family’s expanding commercial footprint in Saudi Arabia, which has grown substantially since the end of Trump’s first term. Family-linked business dealings in the kingdom include hotel licensing agreements in Jeddah, luxury residential developments in Riyadh, and a reported development project in the Saudi town of Diriyah, raising questions from ethics watchdogs about the intersection of the president’s personal business interests and formal U.S. foreign policy toward the kingdom.
Why It Matters
Nuclear cooperation agreements carry long-term strategic weight, shaping which countries and companies control critical energy infrastructure in a region central to global energy markets. The prospect of Saudi Arabia developing domestic uranium enrichment capacity, even under a nonproliferation framework, has drawn concern from arms control experts who warn it could set a precedent that other regional powers, including rivals of Saudi Arabia, might cite to justify their own enrichment ambitions.
The timing is particularly sensitive given that the United States is simultaneously conducting military operations against Iran explicitly aimed at preventing Tehran from advancing its own nuclear weapons capability. Critics argue that advancing a separate nuclear cooperation framework with Saudi Arabia, even for peaceful purposes, complicates Washington’s broader nonproliferation messaging in the region at a delicate diplomatic moment.
The addition of the Abraham Accords condition also reintroduces a politically fraught linkage between energy cooperation and Middle East peace diplomacy. Should Saudi Arabia decline to normalize relations with Israel, as it has signaled it would absent progress on Palestinian statehood, the nuclear deal itself could stall, creating friction in what had otherwise been a rapidly deepening bilateral relationship.
For congressional overseers, the deal raises questions that extend beyond energy policy into ethics and conflicts of interest, given the scale of the Trump family’s parallel business dealings in the kingdom, an issue likely to feature in future oversight hearings regardless of the nuclear agreement’s ultimate fate.
Economic and Global Context
Saudi Arabia currently derives roughly 60 percent of its electricity from natural gas and about 40 percent from oil, according to the International Energy Agency, underscoring the kingdom’s interest in diversifying its energy mix as part of its broader Vision 2030 economic transformation strategy. Civil nuclear power represents a key pillar of that diversification effort, positioning American firms to capture a significant share of a multi-decade infrastructure buildout.
The nuclear agreement sits within a considerably larger economic relationship. Since May 2025, the two countries have signed deals covering artificial intelligence infrastructure investment, arms sales exceeding $140 billion, and additional commitments from major American technology and industrial firms, altogether forming part of a $600 billion investment package that Saudi officials have framed as central to the kingdom’s economic diversification away from oil dependency.
Globally, the deal is being closely watched by other Gulf states and regional rivals, who may view any concessions granted to Saudi Arabia on enrichment capacity as a benchmark for their own future negotiations with Washington, potentially reshaping the broader nonproliferation landscape across the Middle East for years to come.
Implications
For Congress, the 90-day review period beginning now gives lawmakers a formal opportunity to raise objections, particularly around the enrichment question, even though a resolution of disapproval remains unlikely to succeed given the veto-proof majority required. Expect hearings and public statements from both parties scrutinizing the safeguards provisions in detail.
For Saudi Arabia, the newly attached Abraham Accords condition creates a diplomatic dilemma, forcing Riyadh to weigh the economic benefits of the nuclear partnership against its long-standing position on Palestinian statehood as a precondition for normalizing relations with Israel. How Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responds could shape the broader trajectory of Gulf-Israel relations moving forward.
For the Trump administration, the coming weeks will test whether the president’s public negotiating style, adding conditions after formal agreements are signed, can be reconciled with the technical and diplomatic complexities of nuclear cooperation frameworks, where predictability and legal clarity are typically prioritized by both governments and the private companies expected to execute the resulting projects.
Sources
“Trump says nuclear energy deal is contingent on Saudis signing Abraham Accords”Â
