Follow us on social

Screen-shot-2022-06-03-at-12.14.47-pm

Biden signals this may be more than a lovers’ spat with Saudi Arabia

The statement comes as leading lawmakers push for a fundamental change to Washington’s relationship to Riyadh.

Europe

President Joe Biden wants to work with Congress to “re-evaluate” the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia following OPEC’s recent decision to significantly cut oil production, according to a White House spokesperson.

“The president's been very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to re-evaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told CNN. “He's willing to work with Congress to think through what that relationship ought to look like going forward.”

“I don't think this is anything that's going to have to wait or should wait, quite frankly, for much longer,” Kirby added.

The statement comes as Biden faces unprecedented pressure from lawmakers for a fundamental change to U.S.-Saudi ties. 

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday that Washington should freeze “all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interests.”

Three Democratic House members went further Friday when they introduced a bill that would mandate the removal of all American military assets from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

And on Sunday, Sen. Richard Blumental (D-Conn.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) announced a bicameral proposal that would “immediately halt all U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.” In an op-ed for Politico, Blumenthal and Khanna also said that their bill “is already garnering bipartisan support in both chambers.”

Notably, the blowback has centered around the idea that the OPEC+ decision will benefit Russia, a major oil exporter, in its war in Ukraine. Military partnerships could return if Riyadh “reconsiders its embrace of Putin,” as Blumenthal and Khanna wrote. This signals a lack of interest in using this new wave of pressure to push for an end to the brutal Saudi war in Yemen, which has animated many of the kingdom’s biggest U.S. critics in recent years.

Regardless, Biden’s response shows a marked shift in White House thinking on U.S.-Saudi ties just a few months after the president’s controversial visit to Riyadh, in which he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman shared a now-infamous fist bump.


President Joe Biden (Shutterstock/Trevor Bexon) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (US State Department)
Europe
Trump Joint Base Andrews
To photo credit: U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Col. Paul R. Pawluk, Vice Commander for the 89th Airlift Wing, before boarding Marine One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., June 21, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

Trump: We 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program, and now, 'peace'

Middle East

President Donald Trump told the American people tonight in a brief address to the nation that Iran's nuclear program has been ""completely totally obliterated" after U.S. airstrikes on Iran overnight into Sunday morning, Tehran time.

He congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who launched Israel's strikes against Iran on June 13 and has been asking for U.S. assistance ever since. "We have worked as a team like no team has worked together before."

keep readingShow less
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)  Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Top Image Credit: Top photo credit: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo) (Gage Skidmore/Flickr); Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect); Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)(Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons)

The Capitol Hill Republicans against US war with Iran

Washington Politics

Even as polling indicates that a majority of Trump voters don't want to go to war with Iran on behalf of Israel, it’s been difficult to change GOP minds on Capitol Hill.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t strong conservative voices trying to do just that.

keep readingShow less
Nato-scaled
Official Opening Ceremony for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Summit 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. (Shutterstock/ Gints Ivuskans)
Official Opening Ceremony for NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Summit 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. (Shutterstock/ Gints Ivuskans)

The 17 Ukraine war peace terms the US must put before NATO

Europe

In the run up to the NATO Summit at The Hague next week, June 24-25, President Donald Trump and his administration should present a clear U.S. plan for peace in Ukraine to the European and Ukrainian governments — one that goes well beyond just a ceasefire.

While it is understandable that Trump would like to walk away from the Ukraine peace process, given President Vladimir Putin’s intransigence and now the new war in the Middle East, he and his team need to state clearly the parameters of a deal that they think will bring a lasting peace. Walking away from the effort to end the war prematurely leaves Washington in continued danger of being drawn into a new crisis as long as the U.S. continues to supply Ukraine with weapons and intelligence.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.