FOG BLOG U.S. NEWS LOG: BIDEN MEETS WITH SAUDI CROWN PRINCE TO FIX SOURED RELATIONS!

Biden, Saudi Crown Prince Meet in Bid to Reset Soured Relations

President says he confronted Prince Mohammed bin Salman over journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing Biden’s Fraught Saudi Visit Garners Scathing Criticism and Modest Accords

In the most politically problematic trip of his presidency, Mr. Biden’s critics accused him of helping rehabilitate the reputation of a tarnished prince in exchange for numerous, but limited gains. JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Biden exchanged the shaken fist for a fist bump on Friday as he abandoned his promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and sat down with the crown prince he deemed responsible for the grisly killing and dismemberment of a columnist who lived in the United States.

In the most fraught foreign visit of his presidency to date, Mr. Biden’s encounter with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the de facto Saudi leader a measure of the international rehabilitation he sought, while securing steps toward closer relations with Israel and an unannounced understanding that the kingdom would soon pump more oil to relieve high gas prices at home.

Mr. Biden’s discomfort was palpable as he avoided a handshake with the prince in favor of a fist bump that in the end proved no less problematic politically. While cameras recorded the opening of their subsequent meeting, the president made no mention of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist assassinated in 2018 by Saudi operatives, and the prince smiled silently when a reporter asked if he owed an apology to the family.