Administration submits nuclear pact to Congress
The Trump administration has formally transmitted the proposed civil nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia to Congress, a senior U.S. official confirmed on Tuesday. The official, who spoke to Reuters, said President Donald Trump has not changed his position that the pact will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords and recognizes Israel.
The submission is a procedural step in advancing the civil nuclear cooperation framework between Washington and Riyadh. The agreement, reached in July, would allow U.S. companies to export civilian nuclear technology to the kingdom. It was sent to Congress on Monday, with the formal handover to committees expected on Wednesday, according to the official.
The agreed framework
The 30-year deal calls for the construction of AP1000 reactors, a project worth tens of billions of dollars that would benefit Westinghouse, jointly owned by Canada-based Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management. The agreement was signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
Congress has 90 session days to consider the agreement. If it rejects the pact, Trump could veto that decision, which would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override.
Normalization as precondition
The president’s insistence on Saudi normalization with Israel has been a consistent theme, echoing his administration's earlier efforts. Immediately after reaching the deal in July, Trump set normalization as a condition for its activation. During his first term, he also worked on a similar pact.
Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, also sought a nuclear deal and wanted to tie it to the Abraham Accords. Diplomats had believed Riyadh was close to normalizing relations with Israel in 2023, but the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023 altered the region's diplomatic landscape. Saudi Arabia has consistently demanded an irreversible path to a Palestinian state before recognizing Israel.
The Abraham Accords, brokered by the U.S. in 2020 and 2021, normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan.
Political tensions and criticism
Some Democratic lawmakers and nonproliferation advocates have criticized the nuclear pact for not prohibiting Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing nuclear waste. In contrast, the UAE agreed to such nonproliferation measures—known as the “gold standard”—in its 2009 civil nuclear deal with Washington.
While the Trump administration says the agreement includes measures required by U.S. law, critics argue the deal could open the door to uranium enrichment on Saudi territory, a matter of concern for nuclear watchdogs.
Yesterday, the Saudi embassy in Washington had not immediately responded to a request for comment. A U.S. official declined to be identified discussing the sensitive diplomacy.
The move comes as the administration appears to be shifting its broader Middle East strategy, though the exact implications for regional stability remain to be seen.