President Joe Biden will “take his time” to re-evaluate the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia, despite little change in the nearly two years he’s been in office, spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday.
A recent WaPo report showed that more than 500 retired generals and admirals had taken jobs with foreign governments advising foreign militaries, including dozens who went to advise the Saudi Defense Ministry. Congress allows retired military personnel to work for a foreign government if they first get approval from the State Department and their respective branch of the armed forces.
The Daily Caller’s Dylan Housman asked Price about whether Biden’s promise to re-evaluate the relationship would also include vetting the State Department process that green lights former troops seeking to work with Saudi Arabia.
Price referred Housman to the Department of Defense, before Housman asked Price for an update on the administration’s re-evaluation.
“This is a relationship that was built up over the course of decades,” Price said. “So the President, the secretary, they’re going to act methodically, strategically, in determining the next steps.”
“He’s going to take his time to do this deliberately, strategically, methodically,” he continued.
WATCH:
White House coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council John Kirby recently said Biden would “re-evaluate” the U.S.’ relationship with Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom announced it would reduce oil output despite Biden’s pleas.
“I think the president’s been very clear that this is a relationship we need to continue to re-evaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit,” Kirby said. “Certainly in light of the OPEC decision, I think that’s where he is.” (RELATED: Accusations Fly As Saudis Say Biden Used US Resources For Political Gain)
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ countries announced they’d scale back oil output by 2 million barrels per day, which could potentially lead to higher gas prices ahead of the midterms. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry later issued a statement alleging the Biden Administration pressured OPEC+ to delay oil production cuts until November, just a few days shy of the elections.
But Biden’s promise to “re-evaluate” the relationship seems to have fallen short, having promised to make the country a “pariah” on the world stage after the brutal slaughter of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia in July to try and dissuade the OPEC member from cutting oil production amid skyrocketing gas prices, coming under fire for fist bumping the Crown Prince.
Nabeel Khoury, a former American diplomat and Middle East expert told Vox the U.S.’ relationship with Saudi Arabia has hardly changed since Biden’s been in office despite his promise.
“The relationship goes on as before. Biden came in with a promise to review the relationship with Saudi Arabia over the question of Yemen and human rights abuses, starting with the Khashoggi murder, but then that didn’t go anywhere.”