Saudi nuclear deal depends on recognising Israel, says Trump

President Trump upended a multibillion-dollar nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia less than 24 hours after it was signed as the White House said it would be off unless the kingdom normalised relations with Israel. Confirming the extra conditions, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: "This deal with Saudi Arabia, the energy deal, is contingent on this condition as far as the president is concerned. So we'll continue to talk with our Saudi counterparts to get the deal finalised and hopefully see them join the Abraham Accords very soon." Jon Alterman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: "It's a strange thing to have left out of the announcement if it was intended to be included. It makes you wonder about the process. One possibility is that he is trying to walk it back, one is that the president misunderstood a vague Saudi promise sometime in the future, another is that he was never completely in the loop." Riyadh appeared to have been taken by surprise by Trump's statement on Thursday. A source familiar with the talks that led to the signing on Tuesday said there had been no suggestion from Saudi Arabia that it would recognise Israel in exchange for the nuclear deal.