US President Donald Trump has thrown the future of a newly signed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia into uncertainty by declaring that it will take effect only if the kingdom normalises relations with Israel, a condition that was not publicly attached to the deal when it was signed.
The president's comments, made a day after the agreement was concluded between the US Department of Energy and Saudi Arabia, have exposed apparent confusion within the US administration, with CNN reporting that even some American nuclear negotiators were surprised by Trump's announcement.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump wrote: "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. The United States is not opposed to Civil (Non-Enriched) Nuclear Facilities."
The comments appeared to contradict the impression created when the agreement was signed, with Trump making Saudi recognition of Israel under the Abraham Accords an explicit prerequisite for the deal's implementation while also stressing that uranium enrichment would not be permitted.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said it will not normalise relations with Israel without a credible pathway to an independent Palestinian state, making the president's remarks a potentially significant hurdle for the agreement.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump's position, saying he had consistently linked the nuclear deal to the Abraham Accords in discussions with Gulf and Arab leaders and that if Saudi Arabia did not join the accords, "the deal is off."
However, CNN reported that the announcement appeared to surprise parts of the administration. According to the network, Trump was unhappy that Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the agreement without first fully briefing him, and his frustration grew after criticism from conservative commentators, including Fox News and The Wall Street Journal editorial page, which questioned why the deal had proceeded without a Saudi-Israeli normalisation commitment.
The White House and the Department of Energy rejected suggestions of any internal disagreement, insisting the administration had always viewed the nuclear agreement and the Abraham Accords as complementary elements of its Middle East strategy.
“President Trump’s energy team is fully aligned, and always has been: the civil nuclear deal being brokered between the United States and Saudi Arabia is contingent on Saudi Arabia joining the successful Abraham Accords, which will help bring true peace to the Middle East,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement.
The Energy Department stressed its close coordination with the White House. “The Department of Energy has closely coordinated the negotiations and then announcement of these agreements with the White House and the State Department. Any suggestion otherwise is false,” press secretary Ben Dietderich said in a statement, adding that the deal and the Abraham Accords “achieve a common goal — delivering lasting peace through commerce, not conflict.”