Did Trump just kill his own nuclear deal?
President Trump has unexpectedly conditioned a previously signed nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia on the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords. This move creates a diplomatic hurdle, as Saudi Arabia requires the establishment of a Palestinian state before normalizing relations with Israel.
Why it matters
The decision complicates U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and risks undermining established diplomatic agreements and regional leverage.
Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump has seemingly called off a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia after his energy secretary already formally signed it.
What happened? On Wednesday, the Trump administration formally concluded what’s called a “123 Agreement” to work with Saudi Arabia on the development of its civilian nuclear power infrastructure. This kind of deal allows the United States to provide another country with nuclear fuel and equipment on the condition that they submit to safeguards against building a nuclear weapon.
But on Thursday morning, after the negotiations were quite literally concluded, Trump threw a monkey wrench into things — posting on Truth Social that the deal was “totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”
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