# Expert Available: President Trump’s Saudi Nuclear Deal Risks 

The Trump administration’s proposed nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, now before Congress, raises serious nonproliferation and national security concerns.

August 26, 2026 • News Releases 

The Trump administration’s proposed nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, now before Congress, raises serious nonproliferation and national security concerns.

Cato Institute scholar [Jon Hoffman](https://www.cato.org/people/jon-hoffman), a research fellow specializing in defense and foreign policy, is available to discuss:

- How the agreement could function as an implicit security guarantee for Saudi Arabia
- Its potential to complicate American nuclear diplomacy with Iran and efforts to end the current war
- Why its timing, weeks before the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and amid new evidence of Saudi official complicity in the attacks, deserves scrutiny
- Why the administration should publicly release the agreement’s terms and make its case to Congress and the public

Statement from Hoffman:

> “President Trump’s proposed nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia is the epitome of strategic malpractice. It undermines longstanding nuclear nonproliferation standards and is tantamount to an implicit security guarantee for the kingdom. This agreement would jeopardize American nuclear diplomacy with Iran and further complicate efforts to bring the current war to an end. It also comes just weeks before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, amid new evidence pointing to greater complicity by Saudi officials in the attacks. The Trump administration should release the terms of the agreement and make its case publicly.”

To arrange an interview with Hoffman, please contact Madison: [mmiller@​cato.​org](mailto:mmiller@cato.org).

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