Biden vows expanded U.S. role in Mideast as controversial trip ends

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia – Capping a four-day trip to the Middle East, President Joe Biden laid out his vision of a future for the volatile region on Saturday, a framework he hopes amplifies American values and investment in this part of the world – and blunts the influence of Russia and China.

The day full of meetings with leaders from Iraq, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other regional powers was in part an attempt to change the narrative that has been dominated by Biden’s interactions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the country who has been criticized for human rights abuses.

“The United States is clear-eyed about the challenges in the Middle East and about where we have the greatest capacity to help drive positive outcomes,” Biden said during his final remarks to a coalition of leaders from the gulf countries and some neighbors. “We will not walk away and leave the vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran.”

In more than four hours of meetings, Biden attempted to cover a lot of ground: extending the Yemeni cease-fire; increasing regional food security; addressing the ripples of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on energy markets; implementing stronger protections for human rights in the region and addressing the threat of an Iran feared to be seeking nuclear weapons.

To that end, Biden announced $1 billion for food security assistance for the Middle East and North Africa, regions that face acute hunger in part because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Advisers said he stressed to his counterparts that he hoped their countries would be partners for decades and focused conversations on diplomacy and deterrence to avoid future conflicts, noting that he was the first U.S. president to visit the Middle East since Sept. 11 without troops involved in a major ground war in the region.

As gas prices have skyrocketed in recent months, Biden has also faced immense domestic political pressure to lower prices at the pump – and aides have hoped the president’s trip would lead to Saudi leaders increasing production and bringing down oil costs.

There were no such announcements during the trip, however, though Biden said Friday that “based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks.”

Yet in his opening remarks at the summit, Mohammed said Saudi Arabia had already agreed to boost its production from 12 to 13 million barrels a day in May. “After that, the kingdom will have no additional ability to increase production,” he said.

Getting the diverse group of Mideast leaders to buy into his blueprint is vital for the administration. If the United States doesn’t attempt to exert influence, Biden and his aides have said repeatedly, then China and Russia will rush in – and shape the future of the region.

“The bottom line is: This trip is about once again positioning America in this region for the future,” Biden said in a speech late Friday.

Add to that, Biden’s trip comes as he is limping at home. His approval ratings have plummeted, his domestic agenda remains hobbled and members of his own party have asked if he should even seek a second term. The struggles at home also raise questions about whether he will see any of his promises made in the region through.

For weeks, Biden has unsuccessfully stressed that Saturday’s sit-downs should not be overshadowed by his meeting with Mohammed, the man accused of greenlighting the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Still, the trip to Saudi Arabia has been marked by the figurative chess match and literal fist bump between the two leaders. U.S. intelligence officials say Mohammed orchestrated Khashoggi’s killing, and Biden had said Saudi Arabia’s government should be a pariah. But Mohammed leads an oil-rich country the administration sees as vital to stabilizing the region and lowering gas prices, and so Biden reluctantly agreed to meet with him.

All told, he spent three hours with the crown prince, participating in a bilateral meeting, and shaking hands with an array of Saudi officials. At the end of the night, Biden stressed that he took a hard line on human rights despite the apparent show of comity. Saudi officials later described an exchange that was much less confrontational than the president’s description.

The fist bump, which was captured by Saudi state media and quickly disseminated around the world, became a powerful symbol and a lightning rod for Biden. The president, who dreaded the one-on-one meeting, was sharply criticized for bestowing legitimacy on the Saudi government given their long track record of violating human rights.

In a meeting with reporters Friday night, Adel al-Jubeir, a Saudi diplomat and former foreign minister, said the crown prince had assured Biden that Saudi Arabia had conducted its own investigation in Khashoggi’s killing and the perpetrators had been arrested.

“We had an investigation. People were put on trial. They were convicted, it went to appeal. The decision went to the Supreme Court and it was affirmed. And we have individuals who are paying the price in jail. This is what every civilized country does,” he said. “We took responsibility for it as a country.”

Biden’s interactions with Mohammed on Sunday were more abbreviated. Before heading into a meeting of the full coalition, the leaders posed for a group photo, a tradition at multilateral gatherings. Mohammed, the host of the day’s events, escorted Biden in, and after the photo, the crown prince led Biden into the meeting room, chatting as they walked a few feet ahead of the other leaders.

Yet Biden’s meetings with Mohammed weren’t the only ones shadowed by concerns about human rights.

Ahead of the president’s meeting with the leader of the United Arab Emirates, the country arrested Asim Ghafoor, an American citizen who previously served as a lawyer for Khashoggi.

Ghafoor is a board member of Democracy for the Arab World Now, which was founded by Khashoggi, and it issued a statement that the arrest was on “trumped on” charges.

“We are outraged at the unjustified detention of our board member and extremely concerned for his health and physical security given the well-documented record of abuse in the UAE, including torture and inhuman treatment,” Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, said in a statement Friday.

“We urge the Biden administration to secure the release of an arbitrarily detained American lawyer before agreeing to meet with the UAE’s leader (Mohammed bin Zayed) in Jiddah tomorrow,” it added.

DAWN said Ghafoor was arrested in connection with a money laundering case while calling his case “politically-motivated.” The Abu Dhabi government media office did not immediately reply to questions about the nature of the charges against Ghafoor.

A State Department official said the United States was aware of Ghafoor’s arrest and consular officers have visited with him. A senior administration official said Biden was also aware of the arrest but declined to specify whether the president had raised the issue in his meeting Saturday.

But Biden did invite the UAE leader, to visit the United States during their meeting.

“Challenges you face today only make it a heck of a lot more important we spend time together,” Biden said.