US President Donald Trump speaks at the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

US President Donald Trump called on Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and officially recognize Israel while speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.

“With the historic Abraham Accords that we’re so proud of, all the momentum was aimed at peace, aimed very successfully,” Trump said, referring to a series of historic US-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries during his first term in office.

“It’s been an amazing thing, the Abraham Accords, and it’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia — a place I have such respect for, especially over the last fairly short period of time, what you’ve been able to do — but will soon be joining the Abraham Accords,” Trump added.

Trump argued that joining the Abraham Accords would be “a tremendous tribute” to Saudi Arabia and that agreeing to recognize Israel is “very important for the future of the Middle East.”

“It will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching, when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me, and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East,” Trump stated. 

During the first Trump administration from 2017-2021, the White House helped broker the Abraham Accords, a series of historic normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world: Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has vowed to expand on the Abraham Accords, arguing that bolstering the normalization agreements will help foster greater peace and prosperity in the broader Middle East. According to recent reports, however, the US is no longer demanding Saudi Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation talks.

During his remarks on Tuesday, the US president also lambasted Iran, saying that he plans to exert “massive, maximum pressure” against Tehran. Trump vowed to “drive Iranian oil exports to zero” if the White House and Iran cannot successfully broker a deal to place restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program.  

“If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive, maximum pressure … and take all action required to stop the regime from ever having a nuclear weapon. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, vowing to never allow Tehran to threaten the US or its allies “with terrorism or nuclear attack.”

Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, maintains that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, reported last year that Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to close to weapons grade at its Fordow site dug into a mountain.