The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, “mocked Biden, 79 years old, and questioned his mental state”
The diplomatic crisis between Washington and Riyadh is deepening and now a new report by the Wall Street Journal indicates that the powerful prince even mocked the US president in private and laughed at his stumbles while questioning his mental capacity
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not a big fan of President Biden
The 37-year-old Saudi ruler “mocks President Biden privately, mocks the 79-year-old’s mistakes, and questions his mental acuity,” Saudi government sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The heir to the throne, known by his nickname ‘MBS’, told his advisers that he has not been impressed by Biden since his time as vice president – and that his “very favorite” president is Trump. ,
MBS’s disdain was on full display when he led OPEC to cut oil output by about 2 million barrels a day, driving up global fuel prices just one month before the US midterm elections. ,
The move is seen as a severe blow to Biden’s efforts to fight inflation, when the economy is at the forefront of American voters’ minds ahead of the elections, and as a sign of blessing for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be able to sell Russian oil at a very high price.
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President Biden, for his part, promised to “reevaluate” Washington’s relationship with Riyadh to see if it serves American interests.
During an interview with CNN last week, Biden announced that there will be “consequences” for Riyadh’s decision – when the Saudis are also now saying that they will reevaluate their relations with the United States.
One drastic possibility that has been suggested is that the Saudis will sell all the US Treasury bonds they hold if Congress passes legislation against OPEC – the Saudis hold almost $120 billion of US bonds.
At the same time, the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Biden would not act “hastily”, but would consult with Congress when lawmakers return to Washington next month. ,
Meanwhile, the Saudis said they are rejecting the White House’s request to delay production cuts until after the election season. ,
“The Kingdom clarified through its ongoing consultation with the American administration that all economic analyzes indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what was proposed, would have negative economic consequences,” Saudi Arabia said in a statement.
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Biden met with MBS in Jeddah during the month of July, as part of a tour of meetings with his allies in the Gulf in July, the meeting opened with a controversial mutual fist bump.
Official Saudi officials felt that Biden “did not want to be there, and was not interested in discussing policy,” according to the Journal. The president also angered the crown prince by immediately raising the issues of human rights violations in the kingdom, including the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. It is known that one of Biden’s first acts as president was the publication of a report linking MBS to the brutal murder of Khashoggi.
Also, the Democrats in Congress proposed to reduce the profitable arms deals between the US and Saudi Arabia, after years in which they sold millions of weapons to Saudi Arabia, despite their hand in the destruction caused by the civil war in Yemen.
Republicans, meanwhile, said the Biden administration should invest more in pumping American oil.
Despite the heir to the throne’s dislike of Biden, the kingdom claims that the motivations for cutting oil production are purely economic – and are intended to ward off a rapid drop in prices. ,
Official Saudi officials tell the Journal that they are frustrated that the relationship with the West is seen only through the lens of oil and security.
They plan to use the high oil prices to revive other sectors of the Saudi economy. ,
“Our economic agenda is critical to our survival. It’s not just about energy and defense,” said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. “It was like that 50 years ago, but it’s certainly not the case today.” Ben Farrakhan also denied that MBS attacked Biden personally. “These accusations from anonymous sources are completely false,” said the prince, who added that “the kingdom’s leaders have always maintained great respect for the presidents of the United States, based on the kingdom’s belief in the importance of having a relationship based on mutual respect.”
A loosening of U.S.-Saudi relations could sabotage counter-terrorism operations, efforts to contain Iran, and the deepening of Israel’s acceptance in the region.
All eyes are now on the next OPEC+ meeting in early December, when the European Union plans to enact an embargo against Russian oil in order to lower the price of Russian crude oil – not sure if it will work…
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