Trump Drops Israel Normalization from 2025 U.S.–Saudi Deal

President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to drop America's traditional demand that Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a deal with the United States, including for nuclear energy and other benefits.

According to Reuters, the United States intends to move ahead with a defense pact with Saudi Arabia, including promoting nuclear energy, without requiring Saudi Arabia to agree to normalization with Israel, a condition the previous Biden administration insisted upon.

This would be a major shift in policy for the United States, and a clear sign of the Trump administration's impatience with the slowness of Israel's progress in ending the conflict in the Gaza Strip. President Trump has reportedly also stopped trying to advance his idea of voluntary relocation of Gazans from the Strip.

This decision may also be related to Saudi Arabia's insistence that any normalization with Israel is conditional on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, something Israel refuses to agree to at present.