Trump Ties U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal to Israel Normalization Amid Capitol Hill Backlash
President Donald Trump has made a newly negotiated 30-year U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation pact explicitly contingent on Saudi Arabia normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords, attempting to leverage atomic trade into a major geopolitical realignment.
The mandate follows sharp bipartisan pushback on Capitol Hill after details emerged regarding the agreement signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman. Lawmakers and nonproliferation experts expressed immediate concern over the transaction, questioning why Washington would offer civilian nuclear technology without securing upfront diplomatic concessions or stringent safeguards.
Although Trump stated that the arrangement restricts facilities to non-enriched nuclear operations, the draft Section 123 agreement leaves open the possibility of building a domestic uranium-enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia following a planned joint U.S.-Saudi technical evaluation. Crucially, the deal omits the International Atomic Energy Agency Additional Protocol, a voluntary framework that grants international inspectors broader authority to conduct unannounced visits and monitor nuclear sites.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the initiative during a stop in Manila, emphasizing the economic necessity of embedding American firms in the kingdom’s energy sector rather than ceding the market to international competitors such as China, Russia, South Korea, or France.
Despite the administration’s economic defense, the initiative faces significant legislative resistance. Democratic Representative Brad Sherman recalled that Rubio, while serving as a U.S. senator in 2018, co-sponsored legislation requiring formal congressional approval for any nuclear deal with Riyadh. Under standard U.S. atomic energy rules, Section 123 agreements are submitted to Congress for review, where lawmakers can challenge terms that diverge from established nonproliferation standards—such as the agreement signed with the United Arab Emirates for its Barakah nuclear power plant, which explicitly barred domestic enrichment.
The political hurdles extend beyond Washington. Saudi officials have repeatedly emphasized that diplomatic normalization with Israel remains anchored to a clear, credible pathway toward Palestinian statehood. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the potential expansion of the Abraham Accords as a major milestone for regional stability, yet he continues to firmly reject Palestinian statehood on national security grounds and refrained from mentioning the nuclear deal. The Saudi Embassy in Washington declined to comment on Trump’s normalization requirement.
