In a possible sign of a new approach, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Saudi Arabia and the United States were on a “pathway” to a civil nuclear agreement when he visited the kingdom in April.
US National Security Council spokesman James Hewitt told Reuters in response to a request for comment: “When we have something to announce, you will hear it from the President. Any reports on this are speculative,”
US Senator Lindsay Graham, a staunch Trump supporter, wrote on X in response to the report that he opposes any US-Saudi defense agreement that does not include Riyadh normalizing relations with Jerusalem.
Even without the normalization requirement for civil nuclear talks to progress, and despite unpacking the issue from a wider defense treaty, a deal is not yet in close reach, one of the sources said.
Saudi Arabia’s government media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
