Trump says ‘it’s time’ for Saudi Arabia to normalise ties with Israel 

United States President Donald Trump has once again said that he will not go ahead with a civil nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agrees to normalise ties with Israel, under the so-called Abraham Accords.

Asked on Friday whether the US Department of Energy got ahead of him when it announced the deal without the Israel condition earlier this week, Trump said: “No, nobody got out ahead.”

“I just say that in order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords, which have been very successful,” the US president added. “But it’s time now that they do it.”

Washington and Riyadh had signed a nuclear cooperation deal to establish a civilian nuclear programme in the kingdom on Wednesday.

But a day later, Trump announced a new condition on social media, saying that Saudi Arabia must first normalise relations with Israel.

He reiterated that position on Friday.

Trump said he did not talk about the accords with Energy Secretary Chris Wright ⁠before the deal was signed, “but it ⁠was always understood, and Chris knew, and Saudi Arabia knew”.

Saudi Arabia has yet to respond to Trump’s latest statement tying the nuclear deal to normalisation.

But Riyadh has long insisted it will not establish formal relations with Israel until there is a clear path for Palestinian statehood, which Israel’s current government staunchly opposes.

The Trump administration initially framed the nuclear cooperation deal as beneficial to the US and Saudi Arabia without mentioning Israel.

“These agreements reflect our two nations’ shared commitment to strengthening US-Saudi commercial relations, delivering prosperity at home and security to our allies abroad,” Wright said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Trump administration had called the agreement a “decades-long, multibillion-dollar partnership” and said it will now be submitted to Congress for review.

While its full text has not been released, some US media reports have suggested that the deal will allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium domestically rather than import nuclear fuel from the US. But Trump later said that there “will be no enrichment of material”.

The new nuclear deal is expected to last 30 years, transferring US technology and expertise to the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said the agreement bolsters “efforts 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”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Thursday that the deal would not lead to nuclear proliferation, as US contractors would handle the project, allowing Washington to monitor it. US nuclear reactor designer Westinghouse is believed to be a major contractor.