Senator Rubio was against Saudi nuclear deal before Secretary Rubio was for it

Washington (July 22, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, today released the following statement on Trump’s deal with Saudi Arabia that would open the door to providing the Kingdom with the most sensitive nuclear technologies without requiring the most stringent safeguards against the development of nuclear weapons.

“As a Senator, Secretary Rubio was among the loudest voices warning about the dangers of giving Saudi Arabia, which has openly vowed to develop nuclear weapons, access to nuclear technology. Now, Secretary Rubio and President Trump risk the security of the United States and its allies in the Middle East by potentially enabling nuclear proliferation in Saudi Arabia and igniting an arms race in the region. Let us be clear: allowing Saudi Arabia to develop nuclear weapons would be irresponsible and dangerous.

“Since the start of his second term, President Trump has launched two illegal attacks against Iran, in part to prevent Tehran from enriching uranium. Ironically, the administration is now opening the door for Saudi Arabia to gain access to that same technology. The Trump administration has needlessly abandoned the ‘Gold Standard,’ which would ban enrichment and reprocessing and require International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) additional protocol safeguards.

“Trump’s and Secretary Rubio’s hypocrisy is matched only by their recklessness. They are allowing Saudi Arabia, a belligerent and authoritarian nation, to develop nuclear weapons technologies while starting a war with Iran under the guise of preventing an Iranian nuclear bomb. This deal would make us all less safe. We must stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

As a founder of the national Nuclear Freeze movement, Senator Markey has long been the Congressional leader on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

• On March 25, Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) reintroduced the No Nuclear Weapons for Saudi Arabia Act, legislation that would mandate that any nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia can go into effect only if it receives the affirmative vote of Congress.
• On March 18, Senator Markey led his colleagues in writing to Secretary Rubio demanding the Trump administration must meet the “gold standard” of nuclear non-proliferation protections by denying Saudi Arabia the means to produce weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, materials that could be used in a nuclear bomb.
• In January, Senator Markey wrote to President Trump urging the strongest possible non-proliferation measures in any revised nuclear cooperation agreement with South Korea.
• In November 2025, Senator Markey and Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging the Trump administration to include the strongest possible “gold standard” nonproliferation measures in any nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to foreclose any pathway to a nuclear weapon.
• In July 2025, Senator Markey introduced the Senate companion to H.Res.317, urging the United States to lead the world in halting the nuclear arms race.
• In November 2024, Senator Markey wrote to the Biden administration seeking answers about any agreement that would normalize relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for civil nuclear energy cooperation and a U.S. defense commitment to the Kingdom.
• As far back as 2017, Senator Markey pressed the first Trump administration on the status of all current and ongoing discussions between the United States and other countries, including Saudi Arabia, on 123 agreements after it was reported that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was peddling a plan to build nuclear reactors throughout the Middle East.

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