A few days ago, I pointed out that the Saudi Kingdom is having a hell of a year, and that instead of being turned into pariahs, as Joe Biden promised to do on the campaign trail in 2019, Saudi Arabia has rarely had it so good.
Perhaps the events of the past year represent more than a metaphorical Biden administration surrender to Saudi Arabia. John Hudson of the Washington Post reports that last year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was ready to declare a de facto economic war against the United States — and that shortly thereafter, the Biden team lost interest in imposing those long-promised consequences.
Last fall, President Biden vowed to impose “consequences” on Saudi Arabia for its decision to slash oil production amid high energy prices and fast-approaching elections in the United States.
In public, the Saudi government defended its actions politely via diplomatic statements. But in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post.
The crown prince claimed “he will not deal with the U.S. administration anymore,” the document says, promising “major economic consequences for Washington.”
Eight months later, Biden has yet to impose consequences on the Arab country and Mohammed has continued to engage with top U.S. officials, as he did with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the seaside Saudi city of Jiddah this week.
This is yet another chapter in the long story of “Joe Biden is not the tough, intimidating guy that he wants to believe he is.” Biden pledged that “when I am president of the United States, [Putin’s] days of tyranny, and trying to intimidate the United States and those in Eastern Europe are over.” Biden pledged he would get tough on China — and then watered down Congressional actions, left glaring provocations unmentioned in meetings, and keeps pledging that we’re about to see a thaw in relations. And when Biden took office, he and his team strutted around the stage, boasting that “America is back!”
The world’s more unsavory regimes aren’t fooled. They know Biden’s a chump who will back down when the stakes get high enough.