{"id":477,"date":"2026-07-23T22:36:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=477"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:36:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:36:11","slug":"oh-fun-trump-is-just-out-here-freestyling-about-nuclear-weapons-and-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=477","title":{"rendered":"Oh, Fun, Trump Is Just Out Here Freestyling About Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Atomic weapons are an extinction-level threat, so you\u2019d ideally want a steady hand guiding U.S. nuclear policy. Instead, we have Donald Trump\u2014and boy has he made the past two days tense. Yesterday, the Trump administration signed an accord to give Saudi Arabia a nuclear energy program. This morning, the president promptly threw the whole agreement into doubt. So is there a deal or not? It\u2019s a high-stakes question; the accord could one day help the Saudis make a nuclear bomb, adding more turmoil to an already chaotic region. Today\u2014with the help of Slate\u2019s resident nuclear expert Fred Kaplan\u2014I\u2019ll explain what we know about the potential deal, and what questions remain.<\/p>\n

Read more North Carolina Republicans Have a New Plan to Disenfranchise Voters. It Could Determine Control of Congress.<\/a><\/p>\n

Seeing Trump<\/em> and nuclear<\/em> in a sentence makes me nervous. What does this deal actually say?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

I can\u2019t blame you. The deal would commit U.S. companies to build nuclear reactors on Saudi soil to generate power. Despite being an oil-rich nation, Saudi Arabia has long sought this kind of deal to diversify its energy sources. The U.S. also has similar agreements with dozens of other countries.<\/p>\n

OK, that sounds reassuring. Does this mean the Saudis can\u2019t make a bomb?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If only. As Fred explained this week, this particular agreement is different in a key way: It could eventually let Saudi Arabia enrich its own nuclear fuel\u2014ostensibly for medical research or other specialized purposes, but potentially to make a weapon. The deal also lacks specific provisions for international inspections, something the country reportedly insisted on. If it does make a bomb, a regional arms race could ensue.<\/p>\n

Yikes. But why would Saudi Arabia want nukes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The answer depends on a different Middle Eastern country: Iran. The two nations are sworn enemies, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has vowed for years that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, his country will too. Lately, that prospect has become more real; Trump\u2019s war has arguably given Iran more<\/em> reasons to pursue a bomb to deter future attacks. If it does, Saudi Arabia probably \u201chas an interest in keeping open the possibility of having some nukes as a deterrent\u201d of its own, Fred says.<\/p>\n

You mentioned Trump throwing this all in doubt. What exactly happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran isn\u2019t the only neighbor Saudi Arabia has tensions with. Israel, currently the region\u2019s only nuclear-armed power, fought Saudi troops decades ago, and the two countries disagree about what should happen to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Given that history, Israel reacted poorly to the news of Trump\u2019s deal with the kingdom. At first, Fred notes, it looked like Trump was indirectly telling Israel to shove it. But then the president took to Truth Social and threw a curveball. He retroactively called the deal \u201ctotally subject\u201d to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, a Trump-negotiated pact that would require it to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia has said it won\u2019t do that unless Israel resumes talks to create a Palestinian state, which the current Israeli government very much opposes.<\/p>\n

Why\u2019d Trump change course?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facing blowback, Trump sometimes guts it out. But in this case, our impulsive president seems to have gone back on his word. Asked today by reporters why Trump\u2019s latest demand wasn\u2019t in the original deal, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt looked like a deer in headlights. She gave no explanation for Trump\u2019s last-minute shift and said the administration would \u201ccontinue to talk\u201d with the Saudis to \u201cget the deal finalized.\u201d Israel\u2019s objections were eminently foreseeable, so maybe the president is just covering his keister; after Trump\u2019s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the idea of normalizing relations. But that would require a major Saudi about-face, so Trump might really be trying to sabotage an accord his administration signed less than 24 hours ago. Then again, as Fred told me, he could have another motive entirely: \u201cWith Trump\u2019s vacillations, logical inference isn\u2019t always the best approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

So will the deal fall apart?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if the Saudis agree to Trump\u2019s new demand, the deal would face congressional review before taking effect. With Republicans in control, Congress\u2019 support looks likely, but the deal will only make it to them if Trump doesn\u2019t blow the whole thing up.So we\u2019re all just waiting to see what he\u2019ll do next. It\u2019s a familiar position to be in, but that doesn\u2019t make it any less unpleasant\u2014or any less shocking that the leader of the free world appears to be setting nuclear policy on a whim.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Saudi Nuclear Deal Reversal Is Right in Line With the Rest of His Foreign Policy<\/a><\/p>\n

Following the diplomatic back-and-forth about a potentially existential subject could tire anyone out, so spend the rest of your night doing something else! I\u2019d suggest:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuning in for some TV takes:<\/strong> Netflix\u2019s binge-drop model disrupted the stodgy rhythms of old-school TV. But now the streaming service\u2019s ratings are tumbling\u2014and it has only itself to blame. Slate\u2019s Sam Adams explains how Netflix became a bad TV friend. Also, we\u2019ll explain more in tomorrow\u2019s Your Morning Slate, but if you\u2019re looking for a surprisingly good watch from a rival platform, check out HBO\u2019s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Satisfying your curiosity (if not your hunger):<\/strong> We can\u2019t in good conscience suggest eating at Taco Bell during the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak. But we can wholeheartedly recommend this dispatch from Slate\u2019s Alexander Sammon, who visited his local Taco Bell to eat chalupas with the brave Americans who aren\u2019t letting the risk of a parasite ruin their appetite.<\/p>\n

Listening to a sultry soundtrack:<\/strong> In the mid-1970s, a college radio station launched an evening program called The Quiet Storm<\/em>. The show grew so popular that it spawned a whole genre of smooth and sexy music, exemplified by artists like Anita Baker and Luther Vandross. On Death, Sex & Money, host Anna Sale chats with 99% Invisible<\/em> producer Christopher Johnson (formerly of Slate!) about why The Quiet Storm<\/em> resonated with an ascendant Black middle class.<\/p>\n

Ending the day with some wordplay:<\/strong> Revel in the weirdness of the English language with Slate\u2019s newest game, SoundBites! Here\u2019s how it works: Solve each clue to find a sound bite (a letter or set of letters that make a single sound). Then combine your sound bites, pronounced as they appear in the original clue answers, to solve the final mystery word.<\/p>\n

And with that, I\u2019ll leave you be until tomorrow. Have a great rest of your evening!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more Arizona\u2019s Next House Member Has a Cool Hat\u2014and a Massive Problem With the Constitution<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The president is flip-flopping on a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-slatest"],"yoast_head":"\nOh, Fun, Trump Is Just Out Here Freestyling About Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East - Home Move Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=477\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oh, Fun, Trump Is Just Out Here Freestyling About Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East - Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The president is flip-flopping on a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=477\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-23T22:36:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75d86f25dbb870f24983ccc831d1ec4e\"},\"headline\":\"Oh, Fun, Trump Is Just Out Here Freestyling About Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-23T22:36:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477\"},\"wordCount\":1163,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ee3a566b24fdeff20ebf8cb0fb225af9.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"The Slatest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=477\",\"name\":\"Oh, Fun, Trump Is Just Out Here Freestyling About Nuclear Weapons and the Middle East - 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