The way in which the White House announced President Biden’s highly anticipated Middle East trip this morning put a fine point on the administration’s embarrassment over its posture toward Saudi Arabia. More than two years removed from his campaign-trail pledge to make Riyadh a “pariah” over the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence believes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved, Biden will meet the de facto Saudi leader during his travels in mid July.
But you wouldn’t know that from the White House statement announcing the trip. The statement only mentions that the Saudi king invited the president, and that Biden “appreciated King Salman’s leadership and his invitation.” There’s no mention of the plans for a meeting with the crown prince.
Those plans only came to light because the Saudi Embassy in Washington issued its own statement today, revealing that the two will hold “official talks” on the full range of issues relevant to the U.S.–Saudi relationship:
The Crown Prince and President Biden will hold official talks that will focus on various areas of bilateral cooperation and joint efforts to address regional and global challenges, exploring cooperation on emerging technologies, economic investment, space, renewable energy, cybersecurity, climate and environmental initiatives, food and energy security, and expanding trade and commercial ties to enable both countries to confront mutual challenges and seize the opportunities of the 21st century.