• Joe Biden fist-bumped Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah.
• The US President had promised to make Saudi Arabia a global pariah.
• They make them pay the price” for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Joe Biden told Mohammed bin Salman on Friday that he thinks he killed Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Biden also announced new areas of cooperation to alter US-Saudi Arabia relations.

After years of animosity over Khashoggi’s death, the Jeddah sessions seemed to reset US-Saudi relations. People were more intrigued by the personal relations between the US President, who once threatened he would “pariah” Saudi Arabia and the de facto ruler of the kingdom.

Human rights groups, fellow Democrats, and the Washington Post’s editor criticized the President for fist-bumping the Crown Prince. Saudi state TV and Twitter swiftly aired photos of Biden with MBS.

Biden flew to Jeddah to find solutions to rising gas prices at home. Diplomacy with the kingdom and its Middle Eastern friends was one of his limited options.

Critics suggested bin Salman’s fist bump boosted his credibility. A year earlier, the US released an intelligence report saying the Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing. Fred Ryan, the owner of the Washington Post, called Biden’s fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “shameful” because it gave MBS undeserved forgiveness.

It was a stunning action from a President who promised to make Saudi Arabia a global pariah and “make them pay the price.”

The President stated he was “direct” with the Crown Prince about Khashoggi on Friday. He said, “I was clear.”

“A President who doesn’t care about human rights doesn’t represent us or me. I’ll battle for our beliefs.” Biden told reporters after meeting Saudi authorities.

Biden stated the Crown Prince denied the murder when asked.

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