Trump drops Biden’s demand that Saudis recognize Israel in nuclear deal with US — sources

The United States is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter tell Reuters ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit next week.

Washington would be making a major concession by dropping the demand that Saudi Arabia establish diplomatic relations with Israel. Under former US president Joe Biden, nuclear talks were an element of a wider US-Saudi deal tied to normalization and Riyadh’s goal of a defense treaty with Washington.

The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without a Palestinian state, frustrating Biden administration attempts to expand the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term. Under those accords, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco normalized relations with Israel. Progress toward Saudi recognition of Israel has been halted by fury in Arab countries over the war raging in Gaza. The nuclear talks had also stumbled over Washington’s non-proliferation concerns.

In a possible sign of a new approach, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the United States were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.

“When we have something to announce, you will hear it from the President. Any reports on this are speculative,” US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt tells Reuters in response to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia’s government media office doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Even without the normalization requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defense treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, one of the sources says.