On Friday, he called for restored relations with the Saudis as he sought ways to reduce high U.S. gas prices that have contributed to a significant drop in Biden’s approval ratings.
Biden’s hit with MBS signals a reset in US-Saudi relations and draws fierce criticism
Ahead of his departure for the Middle East, administration officials told CNN they were seeking a full reboot of US-Saudi relations after years of strain following Khashoggi’s assassination. A fist bump in front of the cameras between Biden and the crown prince perfectly symbolizes that moment. The meetings in Jeddah largely appeared to align with the planned reboot of US relations with the kingdom, and Biden announced several new areas of cooperation aimed at changes in the US-Saudi relationship. But the images of Biden’s apparently friendly relationship with the crown prince drew the most attention.
The president was fiercely criticized — including by his fellow Democrats — for punching MBS during their first face-to-face meeting in Jeddah. Critics say the punch helped restore the 36-year-old leader’s reputation on the world stage just over a year after the US declassified an intelligence report that concluded he personally ordered Khashoggi’s brutal killing, an accusation that which the crown prince denied during their meeting, Biden said.
Images of the punch were quickly publicized by the Saudi government, including on Saudi state television. Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan said Biden’s punch was “shameful” because it “represents a level of intimacy and comfort that affords MBS the unwarranted redemption he desperately seeks.”
There had been much speculation ahead of the trip about whether Biden would shake the crown prince’s hand, especially as the White House said the president would seek to reduce contact with other people amid the spread of a transmissible sub-variant of the omicron variant of Covid-19.
Biden brings up Khashoggi’s assassination with MBS and emphasizes US support for human rights
Hours after he was criticized for the punch, the president appeared before the traveling press to say he had raised the issue of Khashoggi’s assassination directly with Crown Prince Mohammed.
Biden said he had been “upfront and direct” with MBS, adding that he indicated to the crown prince that he believed he was responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. A day earlier, while in Israel, Biden did not confirm that he planned to raise the issue of Khashoggi’s death with the crown prince, insisting instead that he had “always” raised human rights and that his views on the assassination were made “absolutely ” clear.
The president reiterated that point on Friday.
“For an American president to be silent on the issue of human rights is inconsistent with who we are and who I am. I will always stand up for our values,” Biden told reporters.
On Saturday, while delivering remarks to the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as the leaders of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, the president again touched on human rights as he sat next to Crown Prince Mohammed, calling the values enshrined in the UN Charter “fundamental to who we are as Americans” and encouraging the assembled leaders to allow more rights for women and the press.
“I’ve gotten a lot of criticism over the years. It’s not fun. But the ability to speak openly, to exchange ideas freely, is what unlocks innovation,” Biden said.
Biden leaves Saudi Arabia without any public promises to increase oil production, but hints at private assurances
Biden came to Jeddah to seek solutions to one of his main political problems at home — high gas prices — as diplomacy with the kingdom and other allies in the Middle East was seen as one of the few avenues he could take to to relieve pump pain. But the trip did not lead to immediate reports of increased oil production.
The trip came amid high gas prices and broad inflation in the US and around the world, in part due to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since February. High gas and grocery prices in the US are stressing millions of Americans and are a major political liability for Biden’s Democratic Party in this year’s midterm elections.
While gas prices have been falling in recent weeks, high prices have become a thorn in Biden’s side. White House officials said ahead of the Saudi leg of the trip that they did not expect to leave with promises of increased oil production, and that prediction came true by the time Biden left the kingdom on Saturday.
However, the president sounded an optimistic note that regional leaders will take action soon, given that the next OPEC meeting will be held in early August.
“Based on our discussions today, I expect we will see further steps in the coming weeks,” Biden said Friday after hours of meetings with Saudi leadership.
The president is trying to reassure allies that the US is committed to the Middle East
Biden sought to reaffirm US leadership in the Middle East during Saturday’s GCC+3 summit with key leaders in the region and vowed his administration would remain actively engaged amid concerns that China and Russia could quickly fill the leadership vacuum.
The president’s foreign policy focus since taking office has largely been on countering China’s growing geopolitical influence and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has raised questions about the extent of Biden’s commitment to engage in the Middle East.
“The United States is invested in building a positive future in the region in partnership with all of you, and the United States is not going anywhere,” Biden said at the GCC+3 meeting.
The summit came almost a year after the US withdrew all troops from Afghanistan and ended the country’s 20-year war. Biden also noted that his visit to the Middle East was the first time since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 that a U.S. president had visited the region without U.S. troops participating in combat operations in the area, although U.S. forces continue to conduct operations in Syria.
Biden has been under pressure to do more to counter Iran in the region and come up with a coordinated strategy among allies, and on Saturday he pledged that the US will play a big role in the Middle East for years to come.
“Let me state clearly that the United States will remain an active and engaged partner in the Middle East,” he said.
The White House released a joint statement later Saturday saying all participants in the meeting “reaffirm their desire to continue holding the US-GCC summit annually.”
Biden seeks diplomacy to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons despite Israeli skepticism
Biden has been pushing to revive the Iran nuclear deal, from which former President Donald Trump pulled the US out in 2018, as he faces growing pressure from key allies in the Middle East to come up with a plan to contain Iran. But hopes appear to be fading that a deal will materialize, and the president acknowledged that the US “won’t wait forever” for a response from Iran’s leadership.
“I continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome,” Biden said at a news conference Thursday. “We will continue to work with Israel to counter other threats from Iran across the region, including support for terrorism and its ongoing ballistic missile program and the proliferation of weapons to terrorists and proxies such as Hezbollah.”
Joining Biden at that press conference was Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who was dismissive of another nuclear deal as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“Words will not stop them, Mr. President. Diplomacy won’t stop them. The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that if they continue to develop their nuclear program, the free world will use force. The only way to stop them is to put a credible military threat on the table,” Lapid said.
Iran was a major topic of discussion during Biden and Lapid’s bilateral meeting on Thursday, and the two leaders signed a new joint declaration aimed at expanding the security relationship between their nations and countering what they described as Iran’s efforts to destabilize the region . The president reiterated the US’s “ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security.
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