On: Trump sends Saudi civil nuclear agreement to Congress for review

26 August 2026.

It is a melancholy consideration that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, possessing more petroleum than any nation can reasonably burn, should yet lack an atom of its own, and must depend upon foreign furnaces for its enrichment. The remedy now dispatched to Congress is classified, which is prudent; for agreements of this kind have historically fared poorly when exposed to the inspection of persons who might read them.

The arrangement is contingent upon Riyadh’s reconciliation with Jerusalem, a condition I admire greatly, since it attaches to the transfer of fissile material a diplomatic promise that may be withdrawn at any moment without disturbing the material itself. The uranium travels regardless; only the paperwork waits upon the peace. This is economy of the highest order - one obtains the commerce first and the virtue second, or perhaps never, in which case no one is inconvenienced except the parties who expected the virtue.

Some will object that arming a desert kingdom with reactors invites proliferation, and that Congress, reviewing the matter in secret session, cannot be said to deliberate on behalf of any public whatsoever. I confess I do not see the force of these objections. Every power that has acquired the bomb assured its neighbours it would be the last to use it, and none has yet been contradicted by events. As for deliberation, the classification of the pact spares the legislators the fatigue of explaining themselves, and spares the citizenry the greater fatigue of being consulted.

I observe also that the review is conducted under statutes permitting the President to proceed with or without the reviewers’ approval, so that the whole exercise resembles a physician’s examination conducted after the prescription has been filled. Still, the forms are observed, and forms are what distinguish civilised nations from barbarous ones - the barbarians merely hand over the plutonium.

I trust the House will receive the document charitably, and read as much of it as is permitted them.