Why Is the U.S. Building the Saudi Nuclear Program While Destroying Iran’s?

About this episode

<p>The United States signed a landmark deal on Wednesday that allows Saudi Arabia to develop a nuclear program. At the same time, President Trump is escalating the war in Iran, a conflict that the White House says aims to destroy the country’s nuclear capabilities.</p> <p>David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, explains what Saudi Arabia and the United States are getting out of the deal.</p> <p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-e-sanger" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>David E. Sanger</strong></a>, the White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.</p> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/us/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The United States signed a deal</a> to help Saudi Arabia obtain nuclear power.</li> <li>With his latest threats, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/us/politics/trump-iran-threats.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mr. Trump has signaled to Iran that he is willing to escalate</a>.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Kenny Holston/The New York Times</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>