President Donald Trump on Thursday said the U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear agreement would be conditional on Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords, blindsiding not only the Saudis but also members of his own administration, CNN reported.
Trump was reportedly already angry at Energy Secretary Chris Wright for not telling him he would be rolling out the deal, per CNN. The president grew even more uneasy after conservative media, including Fox News, criticized the deal, including for not requiring Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel as part of the agreement.
“During the Biden years, they said we’ll think about it. But before we do that, we need you to sign on to the Abraham Accords,” “Fox and Friends” host Brian Kilmeade said on air, referring to the Biden administration’s negotiations with the Saudis.
Shortly after that Fox News segment, Trump announced his new condition for the agreement signed by his team just hours earlier, throwing it into doubt.