President Donald Trump said Friday that Saudi Arabia will have to join the Abraham Accords before the United States moves forward with a civilian nuclear agreement, saying the requirement had always been understood during negotiations.Asked why he appeared to add a new condition after Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced progress on a Saudi nuclear deal, Trump rejected the suggestion that anyone had gotten ahead of him."No, nobody got out ahead.I mean, I just say that in order to do it, they have to be a member of the Abraham Accords, which have been very successful.
But it's time now that they do it," Trump said.TRUMP CALLS ON ARAB NATIONS TO SIGN ABRAHAM ACCORDSPresident Donald Trump speaks during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday.The Trump administration is seeking wider deployment of both large, conventional reactors and smaller ones alike after a series of executive orders by the president, who sees nuclear reactors as a key source of power for data centers and economic growth.
(Bloomberg via Getty Images)Later, when asked whether he had authorized Wright to sign the agreement, Trump maintained the condition was never in doubt."Well.We didn't talk about it, but it was always understood.
And Chris knew and Saudi Arabia knew that if they joined the Abraham Accords, the deal is not, I'm not going to do the deal," Trump said.When a reporter followed up by asking why Wright signed the agreement if that condition remained, Trump said any deal would still have to clear Congress and would not move forward unless Saudi Arabia joined the Abraham Accords.TRUMP'S IRAN DEAL SPARKS GOP DEMANDS FOR VOTE AS CONGRESS REMAINS IN THE DARK"Because they understood that, subject to Congress and everything else, in order for that deal to go through, they had to sign into the Abraham Accords," Trump said."We think the Abraham Accords bring peace in the Middle East."Trump argued the regional security landscape had shifted after ...