Trump Giving Nuclear Capability to Saudi Arabia

We are sacrificing blood and treasure to prevent a Muslim dictatorship from ever obtaining a nuclear bomb. But at the same time, we’re now going to sell nuclear technology to another Muslim dictatorship that will move them a huge step closer to having the ability to build nuclear bombs:

The US and Saudi Arabia have signed a landmark deal that will allow the Gulf kingdom to develop a civilian nuclear programme.

The deal is described as a “peaceful nuclear co-operation agreement” that will provide “great access for American companies in the Saudi nuclear energy program” by the US energy department.

…Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told CBS News in 2018 that his own nation was not planning to acquire a nuclear weapon, but that “without a doubt if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible”.

…Specific details of the nuclear deal have not been given but earlier media reports suggested that, after undertaking a joint study with the US, Saudi Arabia may be allowed to enrich uranium on its soil to produce fuel at a US-built enrichment facility, instead of relying on imported fuel.

This could be worth billions of dollars to the US, whose companies could be involved in building a facility to produce enriched uranium, which can be used as fuel for power plants but also to make nuclear bombs.

…Rosemary Kelanic, the director of the Middle East programme at the US-based Defense Priorities think tank, said it would be “quite shocking” if the US were to allow Saudi Arabia uranium enrichment facilities.

“The US has never done that before. We have never helped another country enrich on their own soil,” she said, adding that this was because “if you can produce your own nuclear fuel, you become a much bigger risk” for building nuclear weapons [James Fitzgerald and Max Matza, “US Signs Landmark Nuclear Deal with Saudi Arabia,” BBC, 2026.07.23].

Saudi Arabia, the country that gave us Osama bin Laden and a majority of the 9/11 perpetrators, the country that rules by the Sharia Law that my rural neighbors so deeply fear, a country that executes political activists and murders criticial journalists—that’s who we’re going to give nuclear technology to.

Respinding to questions about the Saudi nuclear deal yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured us that the Trump Administration would never make any deal “that leads the risk of proliferation.” Yet Secretary Rubio is now defending a nuclear deal that fails to meet standards he himself demanded in 2019 for any such deal with Saudi Arabia:

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-30), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation, and Congressman Ted Yoho (FL-03) today introduced legislation that increases Congressional oversight over any civil nuclear cooperation agreement – or 123 agreement – between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Since 2017, there have been reports of negotiations between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia on a potential 123 agreement.

Specifically, the Saudi Nuclear Nonproliferation Act would require Congress to affirmatively approve any 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia. Typically, 123 agreements—which authorize U.S. companies to sell nuclear technology abroad—go into effect unless veto-proof majorities of Congress pass joint resolutions of disapproval. The legislation also makes clear that Congress believes that no 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia should be approved unless and until the Kingdom is truthful and transparent about the death of U.S. journalist Jamal Khashoggi, unless it commits to forego any uranium enrichment or spent fuel reprocessing activities – the so-called “gold standard – within its territory, and until it agrees to implement the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol. The legislation also urges Saudi Arabia to make substantial progress on protecting human rights, including through the release of political prisoners.

…“Until the Saudi government agrees to adhere to the ‘Gold Standard’ for responsible nuclear behavior, allows IAEA’s Additional Protocol nuclear inspections, and also proves they are willing to be a responsible partner that respects the basic human rights of their citizens, the United States should suspend all talks related to a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia,” said Senator Rubio. “This important bill will ensure Congress has oversight over and the right to affirmatively approve any civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, and also continues to press the Saudis for full accountability in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi” [Senator Ed Markey, press release, 2019.02.28].

Now-Secretary Rubio appears to have abandoned that ‘Gold Standard’:

But experts have expressed alarm that Wednesday’s deal lacks the oversight and guardrails of previous nuclear agreements. Saudi Arabia will reportedly not be subject to the most rigorous monitoring from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The IAEA’s “Additional Protocol” has been implemented by dozens of countries, and was one of the requirements of the Obama-era nuclear deal with Iran from which Trump withdrew in 2018. It involves inspection and verification to ensure that countries are using nuclear material solely for peaceful purposes.

When the US struck a similar deal with the United Arab Emirates, the UAE agreed not to seek enrichment or process spent atomic fuel, a measure that became known as the “gold standard” for nations wanting atomic power. The Saudi-US agreement reportedly does not include this gold standard [Jonathan Yerushalmy, “What Is the US–Saudi Nuclear Deal and Why Is It Causing Concern?” The Guardian, 2026.07.22].

Giving Saudi Arabia nuclear technology will make it even harder to get Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. It may also fuel such ambitions among other Arab nations:

Allowing Riyadh to do that could create a cascading proliferation risk, said Andrea Stricker, an expert on nuclear weapons proliferation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank that campaigned against the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“It could open a Pandora’s box of Russia and China providing these technologies to others simply because the United States did it first,” she said. ”We could also see other U.S. partners and allies such as Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, perhaps others like Qatar, Oman, lining up for similar treatment, and then soon you have many new states with the capability to enrich or reprocess plutonium, which leaves them a short distance from being able to make nuclear weapons” [Felicia Schwartz, Jerry Wu, and Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, “Trump’s Saudi Nuclear Deal Risks Igniting a Middle East Arms Race, Lawmakers Warn,” Politico, 2026.07.22].

Giving Saudi Arabia the ability to enrich uranium on its own turf does not arise from any deep understanding of historical or geopolitical context. It reeks of the American President doing a long-standing business pal a favor, without regard for the implications for nuclear chaos in the Middle East and beyond.