Back in 2017, Donald Trump was received in Saudi Arabia with pomp and circumstance, a symbolic sword-dance was staged in his honor as an ally, and during all his term there was a concerted effort to bring peace in the middle East via the ‘Abraham Accords’.
But the Joe Biden ‘administration from hell’ has vowed, ever since the campaign, to ‘recalibrate the relationship with Saudi Arabia’, and even turn them into a ‘pariah state’.
This opened up the field for China to take an interest in the Middle East and engage in a ‘courtship’ of traditional U.S. partners.
Just how bad the relations have become can be glimpsed from a ‘Discord Leak’ document just released.
Washington Post reports:
“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.”
In fact, Secretary of State Blinken was received in such a low key setting that – look for yourself – there was no US flag in the meeting, which is something many see as the diplomatic equivalent of an insult.
Crown Prince Mohammed ‘is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, after his father King Salman appointed him to be prime minister in 2022’.
Biden and his cronies have strongly criticized Mohammed’s role overseeing the war in Yemen, and U.S. intelligence has long assessed that he was involved in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist (and Muslim Brotherhood operative) Jamal Khashoggi.
The Crown Prince denies ordering the killing, but has since acknowledged that the murder happened ‘under his watch’.
Since falling out of favor with Washington, the Saudis have been engaged in important diplomatic activities, from seeking peace in Yemen, to the surprising raprochement with Iran and Qatar.
Another Discord leak showed that the Saudis plan to expand the relationship with China, buying drones, missiles and surveillance systems from Beijing.
Sputnik reported:
“The first day of the 10th Arab-China Business Conference in Saudi Arabia ended with the signing of 30 investment agreements worth 37.5 billion Saudi riyals ($9.9 billion)
The parties signed agreements in the field of technology, renewable energy, agriculture, real estate, minerals, logistics, tourism and healthcare, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.”