Trump challenges Saudi position on Palestine, says normalisation with Israel ‘inevitable’

US President Donald Trump questioned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s insistence that normalization with Israel is tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying he does not believe the Saudi leader is “serious” about the condition.

Speaking in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Trump said he expects Saudi Arabia to eventually join the Abraham Accords, which were brokered during his previous term in office.

Asked about bin Salman’s statement that normalisation would only be possible under a two-state solution, Trump replied: “No, I think he will join the agreements. We will reach a solution. I don’t know if it will be a two-state solution — that’s up to Israel and other parties… and me as well.”

Similar remarks by Trump in the past have prompted official denials from the Saudi Foreign Ministry, which has repeatedly reaffirmed that any normalisation with Israel must be tied to “a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue” based on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Trump also cited Iran’s nuclear program as the main obstacle to expanding normalisation agreements, claiming that US strikes targeting Iranian facilities last June had helped pave the way for more countries to join the accords. “We hit Iran hard, then it was time to stop, so we stopped,” he said.

Trump’s comments come amid renewed US efforts to revive the normalization process between Israel and Arab states, following the 2020 Abraham Accords that established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.