Biden Meets With Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Amid ‘Energy Security’ Concerns

Jack PhillipsJuly 15, 2022

President Joe Biden arrived in Saudi Arabia on Friday and gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a fist bump and shook hands with King Salman, coming after then-candidate Biden pledged to make the kingdom a “pariah” on the world stage.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday that the flight “follows the monumental decision to open Saudi airspace to all civilian carriers without discrimination, a decision that includes flights to and from Israel.”

Energy and security interests prompted Biden and his aides to decide not to isolate the Gulf oil giant that has been strengthening ties with Russia and China. Biden, who said he would discuss human rights during the visit, was met by Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca province, which includes the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

When opening statements were completed, several American reporters, including NBC’s Peter Alexander, shouted questions about the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the prince. “Will you apologize to his family?” one shouted to the prince. “Is Saudi Arabia still a pariah?” another asked. Bin Salman did not respond as reporters were led from the room.

📷 | HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives #US President at Al-Salam Palace in #Jeddah. pic.twitter.com/oVy7igzDWw

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) July 15, 2022

Biden will discuss energy security with leaders of Gulf oil producers and hopes to see more action by OPEC+ to boost output, but there were unlikely to be any bilateral announcements from the talks, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to Jeddah.

“We believe any further action taken to ensure that there is sufficient energy to protect the health of the global economy, it will be done in the context of OPEC+,” said Sullivan. “We are hopeful that we will see additional actions by OPEC+ in coming weeks.”