While Riyadh has insisted that it needs pathway to Palestinian state, US president reiterates that normalization deals will soon pile up now that Gaza war over, Iran threat neutered

US President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that Saudi officials indicated to him “as recently as yesterday” that they’re willing to join the Abraham Accords, which he expects will be expanded “soon.”

Trump reiterated his belief that Arab and Muslim countries will be able to normalize relations with Israel now that a ceasefire has been reached in Gaza and the Iranian nuclear threat has been neutered.

“I hope to see Saudi Arabia go in, and I hope to see others go in. I think when Saudi Arabia goes in, everybody goes in,” Trump told Fox News.

Asked if Saudi officials have indicated to him a willingness to do so, Trump responded, “They have. Even as recently as, like, yesterday. I had some very good conversations.”

It’s unclear whether Trump actually spoke directly with Saudi officials. Earlier this week, Trump told reporters, “I spoke to Hamas, and I said, ‘You’re going to disarm, right?’ ‘Yes, sir. We’re going to disarm.’”

Reporter: “Do you expect an expansion of the Abraham Accords?”

President Trump: “I do…The Abraham Accords are a miracle in a way, and the four countries that went in initially…they stayed in and they’re doing incredibly well…I hope to see Saudi Arabia go in, and I hope to… pic.twitter.com/sq0GHB7kTZ

— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) October 17, 2025

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that it will not normalize relations with Israel unless Jerusalem agrees to establish a credible, time-bound, irreversible path to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did verbally agree to Trump’s 20-point peace plan that states, “While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

The plan’s final point states that the “US will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.”

But in the speech unveiling the plan, Trump recognized Netanyahu’s “understandable” opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state and has later said that he hasn’t made a decision on whether he backs a two-state solution — without which Saudi Arabia will not join the Abraham Accords.

Moreover, the deal actually signed by Israel and Hamas in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last week did not include the second half of Trump’s plan that focused on a potential two-state solution.

Still, Trump has been bullish about the chances for expanding the Abraham Accords now that the Gaza ceasefire is in place.

“I don’t want to use the word immediate, but soon,” he told Fox News.

He hailed the countries that already signed on in 2020, noting that they did so “courageous[ly]” while Iran was a much stronger regional power, before the US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear program in June 2025.

Trump acknowledged the Saudi resistance to normalizing ties with Israel when he visited the Gulf kingdom in May, telling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, “You’ll do it at your own time.”

“They couldn’t have done it during the war. They couldn’t have done it with the fight that was going on with Iran,” Trump told Fox News on Friday.

For a short while earlier this week, it appeared that Indonesia was going to be the first country to join the Abraham Accords since the end of the Gaza war, as its Prabowo Subianto weighed a historic visit to Israel on Tuesday after a summit of world leaders on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh.

But shortly after the plan was leaked to the press on Monday, Subianto’s office issued a fierce denial that such a trip had even been planned.

The Indonesian leader also made headlines with his speech at the UN General Assembly last month in which he asserted that the world must respect Israel’s right to live in security, and concluded his remarks with, “Shalom.”

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