Trump said the US-Saudi nuclear deal depends on Riyadh recognising Israel and joining the Abraham Accords.
Saudi Arabia has long resisted normalising ties with Israel without progress towards a Palestinian state.
The agreement has raised concerns over nuclear proliferation and a possible arms race in West Asia.
US President Donald Trump has said that Washington’s civilian nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia will go ahead only if the kingdom recognises Israel, adding a condition that was not included in the agreement announced a day earlier and throwing the deal into turmoil just after it was signed.
The new requirement links the agreement to Saudi Arabia joining the so-called Abraham Accords, despite Riyadh having long resisted joining the framework with Israel and insisting on a pathway to a Palestinian state. According to AFP, the condition was not mentioned in the civilian nuclear deal announced on Wednesday, which had appeared to be a major win for Saudi Arabia even as Trump continues military action against Iran over its nuclear programme.
Trump stunned Saudi Arabia with a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday (July 23, 2026), saying the deal “will be approved, but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”
The White House said Trump had previously informed Saudi Arabia that the agreement depended on the kingdom recognising Israel.
“The president is always the final dealmaker. He has said if they don’t join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“The president has spoken directly with the Saudis about this in numerous conversations in the past, and the administration will continue to engage in those conversations.”
Washington brokered the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first term, seeking to build bridges between Israel and the Arab world. Saudi Arabia has continued to resist joining the accords, maintaining that recognition of Israel must be linked to progress towards a Palestinian state,AFP reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saudi recognition of Israel would mark a “historic leap” forward for peace in West Asia.
Leavitt said she was not aware of any calls between Trump and Netanyahu following the announcement of the Saudi agreement.
There was no immediate reaction from Riyadh.
If it goes ahead, the agreement to establish a civilian nuclear programme in Saudi Arabia would generate billions of dollars for American companies. However, after Trump’s latest announcement, it remains unclear whether the agreement will ever move forward.
“If Washington tries to force normalisation on Riyadh, it’s not likely to work out very well,” said H.A. Hellyer, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a leading UK defence and security think tank.
“Would Saudi decide to do a complete 180 on what it has declared for the past three years, or 30 years? Quite dubious,” he told AFP.
The agreement has also drawn criticism from those who fear it could trigger a nuclear race in a region already affected by conflict. According to AFP, The Wall Street Journal reported that one provision could allow US companies to build a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia.
The US Energy Department made no mention of such a provision and declined to comment when asked by AFP.
Trump appeared to rule out such a provision, writing on Truth Social that there would be “no enrichment of material!” The agreement will be submitted to the US Congress for review.
US lawmakers from both parties and Israeli officials have previously opposed such a project over concerns that Saudi Arabia could eventually use the technology to develop nuclear weapons.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that any civilian nuclear agreement signed by the United States “is going to be one that will have safeguards in place to ensure that it can’t be turned into a weapons program.”
Saudi Arabia, like Iran, has long maintained that it has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme. Last year, the kingdom signed a mutual defence pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Policymakers have long feared that if Iran produced a nuclear weapon, it could trigger an arms race across the Gulf.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright dismissed those concerns, saying the agreement was in Washington’s economic and strategic interest and involved the “highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation.”
The United States has agreements governing nuclear cooperation with more than 50 countries.
The Saudi deal comes as Riyadh faces growing regional security challenges, with Yemen’s Houthi rebels starting attacks on ships in the Red Sea to enforce what they describe as a blockade on Saudi Arabia.
AFP reported that Trump has vowed to punish both Iran and the Houthis if the attacks continue.
