Trump Effectively Calls on Saudi Arabia to Recognize Israel

Katie Pavlich | May 13, 2025 2:00 PM

Speaking to a room full of political leaders, business executives and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh Tuesday at the 2025 U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, President Donald Trump urged the Kingdom to join the Abraham Accords. If Saudi Arabia were to join, it would be a historic, unprecedented and official recognition of the State of Israel and a new path to sustained peace in the Middle East.

"With the historic Abraham Accords that we are so proud of, it was aimed at peace and it aimed very successfully. It's been an amazing thing the Abraham Accords. It's my fervent hope, wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia, a place I have such respect for especially over the last fairly short period of time what you've been able to do, will soon be joining the Abraham Accords," Trump said. "I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country and it will be something that is very important for the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them and they've been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined."

"It will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins," he continued. "You'll do it in your own time."

President Trump: "It's my fervent hope, wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia...will soon be joining the Abraham Accords...it will be a special day in the Middle East...you'll do it in your own time." pic.twitter.com/GuQw69c8dX
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 13, 2025

The historic Abraham Peace Accords were struck during Trump's first term in office, bringing together Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. As Townhall reported at the time:

"We're here this afternoon to change the course of history. After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East," Trump said. "Today’s signing sets history on a new course and there will be more countries to follow these great leaders."
“On my first foreign trip as President, I had the honor of addressing the leaders of more than 54 Arab and Muslim nations in Saudi Arabia. My message that day was very simple: I urged the nations of the Middle East to set aside their differences, unite against the common enemy of civilization, and work together toward the noble aims of security and prosperity," Trump continued. "Today the world sees that they’re choosing cooperation over conflict, friendship over enmity, prosperity over poverty, and hope over despair. They are choosing a future in which Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Jews, and Christians can live together, pray together, and dream together side-by-side in harmony, community, and peace.”