Trump said the nuclear agreement is subject to Riyadh establishing diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords.
“There will be no enrichment of material!” the president said in a Truth Social post. The deal “is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords,” he said.
The Abraham Accords are a diplomatic framework that led to the normalization of relations between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan.
Trump has made clear that the nuclear “deal is off” if the Saudis do not join the Abraham Accords, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt subsequently told reporters Thursday.
“This deal with Saudi Arabia is contingent on this condition as far as the president is concerned,” Leavitt said. “We’ll continue to talk with our Saudi counterparts to get the deal finalized and hopefully see them join the Abraham Accords very soon.”
The Saudi energy ministry declined to comment when reached by CNBC.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed an agreement Wednesday on civilian nuclear cooperation. They also signed a bilateral agreement on nuclear safeguards. The White House has not released the text of the deal.
The Department of Energy said the deal would lay the foundation for a decades-long, multibillion-dollar nuclear partnership between the two countries.
The agreement will be sent to Congress for review, the department said. U.S. cooperation with foreign nations on civilian nuclear power requires such review under the Atomic Energy Act.
Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about the impact of the deal on the Middle East. The U.S. and Israel have justified the current war against Iran in part as an effort to force Tehran to renounce its nuclear ambitions. They previously bombed Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025.
“This agreement will set off a nuclear race in the region, further disincentivizing Iran from limiting its own program,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in a social media post.
— CNBC’s Emma Graham contributed to this report
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