Trump Approves 30-Year US-Saudi Nuclear Deal, Opening Door to Uranium Enrichment

President Donald Trump has formally approved a 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed US officials. The deal is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars and would give American companies a central role in developing Saudi Arabia's nuclear infrastructure.

The agreement comes as the region remains tense. US forces have now conducted 11 consecutive nights of strikes on Iran, according to AP News.

What's actually in the deal

According to the Journal's reporting, relayed by Anadolu Ajansı and Free Malaysia Today, the agreement is designed to give American companies a central role in developing Saudi Arabia's nuclear infrastructure while shutting out other foreign competitors.

The most consequential piece: American companies could build a uranium enrichment facility inside Saudi Arabia, but only if a joint review by Washington and Riyadh concludes that the move is justified. This is a conditional path that still requires both governments to sign off on enrichment specifically, separate from the broader civilian program.

The report said the deal would also give the US a role in monitoring Saudi Arabia's nuclear ambitions, which Trump administration officials say could help prevent the program from being used for weapons development.

The enrichment problem

Uranium enrichment is the same process used to make reactor fuel and, at higher levels, weapons-grade material. Countries with civilian nuclear programs don't need enrichment capability to run power plants; they can buy enriched fuel on the international market instead.

Congress gets a say

According to the Journal's reporting, the agreement is expected to be sent to Congress for review in the coming days. Anadolu Ajansı and Free Malaysia Today both reported that the deal is likely to face opposition from lawmakers concerned about expanding nuclear capabilities in an already unstable Middle East, though neither report named which specific members of Congress plan to object.

What's unresolved

None of the reporting so far specifies exactly how the joint review process for enrichment would work, who sits on it, or what timeline it runs on. Nor is there a published legal text of the agreement yet, only officials' characterizations of it to the Journal.

The deal arrives while the region remains volatile, with the US military in the midst of an extended campaign of strikes on Iran, according to AP News. Whether a Saudi enrichment pathway calms that instability or adds to it is the open question Congress will now have to answer.