Biden to visit Israel and Saudi Arabia
President Joe Biden confirmed Tuesday that he will visit Saudi Arabia next month for talks with its leaders, a dramatic change in his stance on the kingdom that he pledged to make a “pariah” as a Democratic candidate for the White House.
With the visit at the tail end of a July 13-16 Middle East trip that includes stops in Israel and the West Bank, Biden is edging off his adversarial stance on the Saudis' human rights record. He's looking to reset the relationship at a time when the U.S. could use help from the oil-rich kingdom to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe.
The stop in Saudi Arabia will include talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the kingdom, according to White House and Saudi officials. U.S. intelligence officials have determined Prince Mohammed likely ordered the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a brief exchange with reporters Tuesday, Biden bristled when asked about his upcoming visit to Jeddah and noted that his team had laid out in a statement “everything I'm doing in the Middle East.”
Human rights advocates and some Democratic allies cautioned Biden about visiting the kingdom, saying such a visit without first getting human rights commitments would send a message to Saudi leaders that there are no consequences for egregious rights violations. The Saudis have been accused of using mass arrests, executions and violence to squelch dissent.
But at a time of skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, growing worries about Iran's nuclear program and perpetual concern that China is expanding its global footprint, Biden and his national security team have determined that freezing out the Saudis, particularly the crown prince, is not in the U.S. interest.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told CNN that Biden “has a tough job dealing with gasoline prices.” But Durbin said he had “mixed feelings” about the visit, calling the Saudis' human rights record “an outrage.”
The Senate's No. 2 Republican leader accused Biden of paying too little attention to American energy.