Trump Sends U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal to Congress for Review
Reuters, citing a U.S. government official, reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a proposed agreement with Saudi Arabia on civilian nuclear energy to Congress for final review. Under the report, if Congress does not object within 90 working days, the deal will take effect.
According to the unnamed U.S. official, the agreement was reached in July and was sent to congressional leaders on Monday. Two sources in Congress also said the document is expected to be referred to the relevant committees on Wednesday.
Reuters wrote that the agreement would allow U.S. companies to export civilian nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. The 30-year deal also includes the construction of AP1000 reactors, a project estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars and seen as lucrative for Westinghouse.
According to the report, Trump has stressed that implementation of the agreement depends on Riyadh normalising ties with Tel Aviv. The same U.S. official said the U.S. president’s position has not changed and that the deal will only move forward if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords.
At the same time, a number of Democratic lawmakers and non-proliferation advocates have criticised the agreement. They say their objections are based on the fact that the deal does not bar Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium or reprocessing nuclear waste, two paths that could be used in the making of nuclear weapons.
If Congress rejects the agreement, the U.S. president can veto it. In that case, a two-thirds vote in Congress would be needed to overturn the president’s veto.
The Abraham Accords were signed in 2020 and 2021 between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, and focused on normalising relations among the parties. The United Arab Emirates also agreed to restrictions on uranium enrichment and reprocessing in its civilian nuclear agreement with Washington in 2009.
