<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654624320527,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b2-d172-a563-4ffafb0a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654624320527,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b2-d172-a563-4ffafb0a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54618687", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1027695"} }); ","_id":"00000181-3f4b-d421-ada5-7f5f763a0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe White House has iterated that Saudi Arabia is a “strategic partner” when needled on whether President Joe Biden still believes the kingdom should be a pariah state.
“The president considers Saudi Arabia an important partner on a host of regional and global strategies, including other efforts to end the war in Yemen, contain Iran, and counterterrorism,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday of the 80-year U.S.-Saudi relationship.
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Jean-Pierre cited military collaborations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, such as against the Islamic State group and in the Red Sea. But Biden would also pursue “any way to get peace,” the press secretary added.
“The president will meet with any leader if it serves the interests of the American people,” she said. “That’s what he puts first. He believes engagement with Saudi Arabia leaders clearly meets that test, as has every president before him.”
Jean-Pierre’s responses can be contrasted with those of her former boss, Jen Psaki. In February 2021, Psaki insisted Biden wanted “to recalibrate the relationship.”
“This will be a different relationship with the Saudi government,” she said at the time.
Biden’s approach to Saudi Arabia is being scrutinized after reports he could travel to the kingdom this summer as part of a Middle East trip.
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Biden had promised during the 2020 campaign to make “pariah” Saudi Arabia “pay the price” for its role in the murder of U.S. citizen and journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But Biden’s political calculus appears to be changing given soaring gas prices.
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