Wednesday, 26/08/2026   
   Beirut 16:02

Trump: Saudi Nuclear Deal Will Only Go into Effect if Kingdom Normalizes ties with ‘Israel’

US President Donald Trump during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025 (image by Bloomberg via Getty).

President Donald Trump has ​sent Congress a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civil nuclear energy while insisting the pact will only ‌go into effect if the kingdom normalizes relations with ‘Israel’, a US administration official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The agreement, which was reached in July and would allow US companies to export civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom, was sent to Congress on Monday, according to the US official, who ​declined to be identified.

The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It was ​not clear how Trump expects sending the nuclear deal to Congress, which has 90 session days ⁠to consider it, will advance his objectives.

“The president’s position has not changed that the agreement will only move forward if ​Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords,” the US official said in an email, referring to US-brokered agreements between ‘Israel’ and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Days after agreeing to the Saudi nuclear deal in July, Trump, who worked on a similar pact during his first term, set normalization as a condition for it ​to go into effect.

Former US President Joe Biden also pushed for a nuclear deal and wanted to tie it to the so-called Abraham ​Accords.

The 30-year nuclear deal calls for the construction of AP1000 reactors, a project worth tens of billions of dollars that would benefit Westinghouse, jointly owned by Canada-based Cameco (CCO.TO) and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.N).

The deal was sent to leaders in Congress and is expected to be handed to committees on ​Wednesday, two congressional sources said. ​Unless Congress objects to the ⁠deal within 90 session days, it will go into force. If Congress were to reject the agreement, Trump could veto that decision, which would require a two-thirds majority in Congress to ​override.

Source: Reuters (edited by Al-Manar)