On Wednesday afternoon, representatives convened at the Energy Department’s headquarters in downtown Washington for a significant event that had been over twenty years in the making: the formalization of a civilian nuclear agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
Two sets of flags representing the United States and Saudi Arabia were displayed on the stage and at the table where Energy Secretary Chris Wright was positioned. A large screen connected him with his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh. Following months of postponements, the agreement was eventually signed.
The Saudis managed to secure many of their desired terms within the agreement.
However, the announcement quickly appeared to unravel. On Thursday morning, Trump posted on social media that the agreement was conditional: Saudi Arabia would need to participate in the Abraham Accords, a program initiated during Trump’s first term that encouraged several Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel. Trump also refuted claims that the agreement would permit uranium enrichment.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the president was already upset about the announcement of the agreement, which Wright had failed to inform Trump he would be disclosing.
Trump’s annoyance was intensified, sources revealed to USdaily, following a wave of backlash from experts and conservative media. This included critical coverage from his favored network, Fox News, and on the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, which questioned the rationale behind the deal being made without a normalization agreement — something both outlets highlighted had been pursued by President Joe Biden.
The newly introduced condition, which the White House claimed had always been a goal of Trump’s and should not have surprised anyone, caught the administration’s own nuclear negotiators off guard, as the Abraham Accords requirement was unexpected, according to two sources briefed on the situation, as reported by USdaily.
Amid the confusion, White House officials reportedly blamed their colleagues at the Energy Department, with one source indicating that the White House had requested the department refrain from announcing the agreement on Wednesday. However, Wright, whom White House officials have previously criticized for acting prematurely, proceeded with the announcement, including an interview on Fox Business.
Some aides to Trump felt the deal was not complete since the necessary letters to Congress had not yet been dispatched. The source stated that the president and many senior officials were furious about the decision to unveil the agreement.
On Friday, Trump informed reporters that he had not authorized Wright to sign the agreement when asked if they had discussed it; his energy secretary was present behind him in the Oval Office.
“We didn’t discuss it, but it was always understood — and Chris knew, and Saudi Arabia knew — that if they didn’t join the Abraham Accords… I’m not going to proceed with the deal,” Trump stated.
“President Trump’s energy team is completely united, and has always been: the civil nuclear deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia is contingent upon Saudi Arabia joining the successful Abraham Accords, which will contribute to genuine peace in the Middle East,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers stated in a Thursday evening announcement.
The Energy Department emphasized its close collaboration with the White House. “This is misinformation. The Department of Energy has meticulously coordinated the negotiations and subsequent announcement of these agreements with the White House and the State Department. Any claims to the contrary are false,” press secretary Ben Dietderich stated in a Thursday evening release, adding that the deal and the Abraham Accords “aim to achieve a common goal — establishing lasting peace through commerce, not conflict.”
The White House’s frustration increased when Thursday’s press briefing was dominated by inquiries regarding the agreement. Karoline Leavitt remarked that Trump was the “final dealmaker” when questioned about the absence of the new condition in Wednesday’s announcement.
Trump’s post on Truth Social early Thursday also caught the Saudis off guard, as the nuclear deal — which did not include the normalization clause — had been seen as a significant victory for them. The agreement would permit uranium enrichment within Saudi Arabia under certain conditions while restricting a UN watchdog agency’s capacity to inspect suspected clandestine nuclear sites. USdaily has contacted the Saudi embassy for further comment.
A long-awaited deal greeted by largely negative reviews
This development was a last-minute twist in a lengthy diplomatic initiative.
Nearly twenty years after the US and Saudi Arabia first expressed their intention to collaborate on nuclear energy, the two nations reached a preliminary accord in October of the previous year, marked by a joint statement from Wright and his Saudi counterpart.
The Trump administration subsequently submitted a waiver report to Congress due to the deal not necessitating the Saudis to sign a conventional agreement known as the Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
However, following the initial waiver request to Congress, the agreement stalled for several months without Trump’s consent to move forward, as previously reported by USdaily. Sources indicated that the delay stemmed from concerns regarding the Iran conflict and the potential for Congress to reject the agreements.
Energy officials were under the impression that they had received Trump’s endorsement late last week, according to a source acquainted with the details, leading the department to initiate its long-planned media rollout. (The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the deal’s approval on Tuesday evening.)
Another source mentioned that while Trump might have approved a “tentative” agreement, it did not constitute an authorization to finalize or announce the deal.
Initial expert feedback on the reported terms of the agreement was predominantly negative. Nuclear nonproliferation specialists expressed alarm regarding the enrichment clause and the absence of a commitment to enhanced Additional Protocol safeguards.
Supporters highlighted the deal’s commercial advantages and strategic considerations: the Saudis aim for a nuclear program on their terms, and the US should collaborate with Riyadh to ensure influence over Saudi safety and nonproliferation efforts — otherwise, there is a risk of China or Russia intervening.
Initially, the criticism did not dissuade the administration, which contended that the agreement and its bilateral safeguards “maintain the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation.” The Energy Department proceeded with its formal signing ceremony on Wednesday.
Following the unexpected changes the next morning, many close to the administration speculated about the possibility of a last-minute intervention from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is known for his concerns regarding a Saudi nuclear program. (Israel, which is armed with nuclear weapons, opposes any agreements that could enable an Arab nation to develop a nuclear bomb.)
Two Israeli sources informed USdaily that Netanyahu sought to influence the agreement, with one stating that the prime minister aimed to persuade Trump to add normalization with Riyadh — or at least progress toward it — as a component of the deal.
However, the White House later clarified that Trump and Netanyahu had not held any conversations — “Not to my knowledge,” Leavitt stated to reporters — and that Trump was merely reiterating a long-standing position regarding Riyadh’s normalization of relations with Israel.
Skepticism from conservative media
Coverage from conservative media played a significant role in the president’s decision to halt the agreement as it stood, according to sources familiar with the events.
“The roots of this deal lie in the Biden Administration, which used the prospect of nuclear cooperation as an incentive for the Saudis to join the Abraham Accords,” the editorial board of the Journal — typically critical of Trump — commented on Thursday. “Riyadh has resisted such pressure, yet now receives its reward from the Trump Administration regardless. One can only hope the Saudis have provided something substantial in return.”
Fox News expressed similar skepticism during its early morning segment. Host Brian Kilmeade described the deal as “somewhat unexpected” and pointed out that such discussions had taken place during Biden’s tenure.
“During Biden’s administration, they said they would consider it. But before proceeding, they required Saudi Arabia to endorse the Abraham Accords,” Kilmeade remarked, expressing confusion since Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a better rapport with Trump than with Biden.
Another Fox host, Kayleigh McEnany, who served as press secretary during Trump’s initial term, also raised concerns about the omission of Saudi-Israeli normalization from the agreement.
“As I was departing the first Trump administration, I was informed that we were close to normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia,” she stated.
Indeed, officials from the Biden administration were actively working to advance those normalization efforts and engaged in intensive discussions with Saudi representatives about the terms of a civilian nuclear agreement that would be announced alongside the normalization of relations with Israel.
However, the progress was abruptly halted following the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel’s widely criticized response in the Arab world led Biden-era negotiators to pursue a “less-for-less” approach regarding the intended nuclear deal, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Ultimately, no agreement was reached.
Since then, Prince Mohammed has explicitly stated he cannot pursue diplomatic relations with Israel without a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Nevertheless, Trump reinstated that condition in a social media post at 7:52 a.m., just moments after the Fox panel had discussed the topic.
Leavitt later stated that morning that Trump had not communicated with the influential crown prince — the de facto leader of the kingdom — in the hours leading up to or following his unexpected announcement of new conditions regarding the agreement.
She suggested that the terms should not have come as a surprise.
“The president has engaged with the Saudis regarding this in multiple conversations previously, and the administration will continue to participate in those discussions,” she remarked.
This story has been updated Friday with additional developments.
USdaily’s Zachary Cohen and Tal Shalev contributed to this report.
Davis Winkie’s work at USdaily is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). USdaily retains full editorial control of the reporting.
