Trump Throws Abraham Accords Monkey Wrench Into Saudi Nuclear Deal At 11th Hour

President Trump has suddenly pulled back the reins on the Saudi nuclear deal, which is likely being felt as a major shock in Riyadh, given that the deal was already signed Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.

Trump in a Thursday morning Truth social post declared that the deal will only be finally approved "totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords."

Upon Wednesday's signing, there was no mention of the Abraham Accords, also when the Energy Department hailed the deal on X, suggesting it was a 'done deal' and all wrapped up - although the text has not been released, and no definitive outlines have been publicly issued.

Also, the oil-rich kingdom did not mention anything about major stipulations like normalization with Israel, but instead an official statement only indicated that the deal would attempt to "diversify energy sources, advance cutting-edge technologies, and expand opportunities for cooperation and investment in ways that serve the mutual interests of the two friendly countries."

The deal has been controversial among US lawmakers, given it opens the potential for a Saudi path to a nuclear bomb, and broader proliferation in the Middle East. But Trump has sought to clamp down on such criticisms, stressing in his new statement there will ⁠be "no ⁠enrichment of ⁠material" under the agreement and that it "pertains only to non-military use."

The pact would allow US companies to build a uranium enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia - but the country's direct ability to enrich automatically opens the pathway to future weaponization.

Saudi Arabia's entry into the Abraham Accords has long been a major Trump administration priority, going back to the launch of the accords in Trump's first term, after which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and later Sudan and Morocco - formally signed on.

But then the Gaza war happened, and Saudi sentiment soured. Even if the kingdom's ruling monarchy wanted to go ahead and enter normalization with Israel, leaders would have an angry population and powerful clerical class to deal with.

Clearly Trump just threw a big monkey wrench into the whole thing at the 11th hour: "A senior administration official told NBC News on Wednesday that Trump had approved the deal, which was expected to be submitted to Congress for review."

One regional journalist and analyst, Mohammad Shabani, had this to say in reaction: "Either Saudi Arabia quietly agreed to normalization as a condition for buying nuclear technology, or Trump is once again responding to Israeli pressure after a deal is struck by attempting to change the terms."