'Nobody got out ahead': Trump denies being blindsided on Saudi Nuclear deal
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Friday, July 24, denied that anyone in his administration acted without his approval when announcing a US-Saudi nuclear deal, even though he added a new condition a day later that Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords.
Trump made the remarks in response to a CNN report that claimed Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the deal before Trump was fully on board.
The original announcement also did not include Trump's long-standing demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic ties with Israel, a condition he says remains part of the agreement.
Trump denies being blindsided by Saudi nuclear deal
“No, nobody got out ahead. I mean, I just say that in order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords, which have been very successful,” Trump said from the Oval Office at an event on nuclear power, with Wright standing behind him.
The landmark 30-year civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between Saudi Arabia and the US allows American firms to build reactors and develop infrastructure in the kingdom.
The US-brokered agreements aimed at normalizing relations with Israel were forged during Trump’s first term and signed by several majority-Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and later Sudan and Morocco.
“It’s time now that they do it,” he said of Saudi Arabia joining the agreement.
Trump presses Saudi Arabia to join Abraham Accords
President Trump, writing a post on Truth Social, stepped up conditions on Saudi Arabia, saying that there will be “no enrichment of material” under the agreement and the civil nuclear deal would not be approved until the kingdom normalizes its relationship with Israel.
The Civil Nuclear Deal between the US and Saudi Arabia “which pertains only to non-military use” will take place, “but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”
Where Saudi Arabia and Israel stand
While the White House made the normalization of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel a condition for any deal allowing the Gulf kingdom to enrich uranium, Saudi leaders have long insisted that would not be possible without meaningful progress toward a Palestinian state.
While Israel has repeatedly dismissed the idea of statehood for Palestine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office office has maintained that Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords would be a significant step toward maintaining peace in the Middle East.
