Trump’s nuclear deal with Saudis jettisons longstanding US demands

The Trump administration’s nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia reversed a years-long stance toward a key Middle East ally.

Past US presidents insisted that Saudi Arabia normalise relations with Israel in exchange for receiving American nuclear technology for civilian energy programmes.

According to reports of the deal’s contents, President Donald Trump gave Saudi Arabia what it wanted without extracting concessions for Israel in return – and over objections from critics who argued that it could spark a nuclear arms race in the region.

On Thursday he said in a social media post that the nuclear pact was conditioned on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a series of deals reached in his first term that normalised relations between Israel and several other Gulf states.

But it was not immediately clear if that was stipulated in the text of the deal – which has not been released – or that Saudi Arabia had agreed to that condition, or would be forced to join the accords.

The deal appears to be the latest example of Trump jettisoning the traditional American approach to the Middle East, which centred on Israel and finding a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In his second term Trump has focused primarily on strengthening America’s economic influence to compete with China and other rivals. Analysts said the nuclear pact with Saudi Arabia sent a signal that the US wants to keep regional allies in the fold even if it means angering Israel in the process.

“Countries in the Middle East want to develop their nuclear infrastructure and they’re going to do it even if the US is not involved. Washington at this point is recognising that,” said Yusuf Can, a Middle East expert at consulting firm Amena Strategies. With this nuclear deal, he added, “the US is basically saying you don’t have to work with China. You can work with us”.