President Donald Trump said Friday that Saudi Arabia will have to join the Abraham Accords before the United States moves forward with a civilian nuclear agreement, saying the requirement had always been understood during negotiations.
Asked why he appeared to add a new condition after Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced progress on a Saudi nuclear deal, Trump rejected the suggestion that anyone had gotten ahead of him.
“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. But it’s time now that they do it,” Trump said.
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Later, when asked whether he had authorized Wright to sign the agreement, Trump maintained the condition was never in doubt.
“Well. We didn’t talk about it, but it was always understood. And Chris knew and Saudi Arabia knew that if they joined the Abraham Accords, the deal is not, I’m not going to do the deal,” Trump said.
When a reporter followed up by asking why Wright signed the agreement if that condition remained, Trump said any deal would still have to clear Congress and would not move forward unless Saudi Arabia joined the Abraham Accords.
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“Because they understood that, subject to Congress and everything else, in order for that deal to go through, they had to sign into the Abraham Accords,” Trump said. “We think the Abraham Accords bring peace in the Middle East.”
Trump argued the regional security landscape had shifted after Iran‘s military capabilities were significantly weakened.
“There’s no longer an Iran factor. There’s no longer Iran to worry about because they’ve been reduced in terms of their capability and power by many fold,” Trump said.
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Trump also emphasized that any agreement with Saudi Arabia would be limited to civilian nuclear energy.
“They’ll join and they’ll do their civil. It’s really, it’s civil nuclear. But that’s what it is. No enrichment. It’s civil nuclear,” Trump said.
The remarks came during an Oval Office event celebrating what the administration described as a milestone for advanced nuclear energy after four privately funded reactor companies met Trump’s goal of bringing new reactor designs online by the Fourth of July. During the event, Trump hailed what he called a “historic milestone for civilian nuclear energy” and a “renaissance of nuclear power in America.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment.
