The Father not the Son: Biden Plans to ’Recalibrate’ Saudi Relations

By Staff, Agencies 

The White House announced on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden plans to shift US relations with Saudi Arabia and will conduct diplomacy through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The announcement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was an abrupt reversal in US policy from Biden's Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, whose son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with the crown prince.

"We've made clear from the beginning that we are going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia," Psaki told reporters.

While her comments about the crown prince were likely to be seen as a snub, Psaki moved to clear the air on another controversy in the region, saying Biden would soon have his first phone conversation with “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The crown prince, widely referred to as MbS, is considered by many to be the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line to the throne held by the 85-year-old King Salman. His prestige suffered a blow after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the hands of Saudi security personnel close to the crown prince.

The Biden White House has been pressuring Saudi Arabia to improve its record on human rights, including the release of political prisoners such as women’s rights advocates from jails.

As for questions about whether Biden would speak to the crown prince, Psaki said Biden is returning to "counterpart to counterpart" engagement.

"The president's counterpart is King Salman and I expect at an appropriate time he will have a conversation with him. I don’t have a prediction on the timeline for that," she said.

Psaki said Saudi Arabia has critical self-defense needs and the United States will work with the Saudis on this "even as we make clear areas where we have disagreements and where we have concerns. And that certainly is a shift from the prior administration."