WASHINGTON: Just hours after the United States and Saudi Arabia announced a landmark agreement to establish a civilian nuclear energy programme, US President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that the deal is entirely contingent upon Riyadh recognising Israel.

The surprise condition, announced via Truth Social, complicates a pact that had appeared to be a major diplomatic and economic victory for the Gulf kingdom.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman signed a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, commonly known as a ‘123 agreement’, on Wednesday.

Notably, the statements from the US Department of Energy and the Saudi Ministry of Energy did not mention the Abraham Accords or Israel.

The kingdom confirmed on X that the agreement follows the announcement made during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to the US last November, concluding negotiations on bilateral cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy.

However, Trump abruptly introduced a caveat, writing that the deal “will be approved but is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.”

When asked why this condition was omitted from the official announcement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that the president is the “final dealmaker”.

She told reporters that while Trump had not spoken to Saudi leadership since his morning declaration, he has repeatedly emphasised the need for Riyadh to join the normalisation pact. “If they don’t join the Abraham Accords, the deal is off,” Leavitt said.

The agreement lays the legal foundation for a multibillion-dollar partnership intended to advance economic objectives and meet Saudi energy needs using American technology.

Wright insisted the deal upholds “the highest standards of nuclear safety and non-proliferation”, boosting US industry while helping re-establish American leadership in the global civilian nuclear market.

Trump explicitly denied the uranium enrichment, stating, “The Civil Nuclear Deal (there will be no enrichment of material!)... pertains only to non-military use such as the ones that Iran and the UAE (and others) already have.”

Trump added, “The United States is not opposed to civil (non-enriched) nuclear facilities.”

The US Department of Energy did not mention the provision and declined to comment. While the actual text of the deal has yet to be released, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that any civil nuclear agreement must include strict safeguards.

“We will ensure that in order to get congressional approval, we’re going to need to have those safeguards in place,” Rubio said, adding that the technology cannot be converted into a weapons programme.

Has Trump already killed the deal?

Trump’s new stipulation leaves it unclear whether the deal will ever see the light of day, as Riyadh has consistently resisted joining the Abraham Accords, insisting that any recognition of Israel requires a clear pathway to a Palestinian state.

H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, warned that attempting to force normalisation is a risky strategy.

“Would Saudi decide to do a complete 180 on what it has declared for the past three years, or 30 years? Quite dubious,” Hellyer said.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026