Saudi prince plays second fiddle in Biden’s call to king

Saudi Arabia’s king, not the younger de facto leader Crown Prince, will be the one getting a first phone call from Joe Biden, the White House said.

Saudi King Salman. Picture: AFP

Saudi Arabia’s king, not the younger de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, will be the one getting a first phone call from US President Joe Biden, the White House said.

Mr Biden is using phone diplomacy to underline the break with Donald Trump’s Middle East policies, and although he has contacted allies in every corner of the world, he has pointedly kept Israeli and Saudi leaders waiting.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that when Mr Biden does finally reach out to the Saudis, it won’t be to the crown prince, known as MBS, who had an especially close relationship with the Trump administration.

“We’ve made clear from the beginning that we’re going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Ms Psaki said, and “part of that is going back to engagement counterpart-to-counterpart.

“The President’s counterpart is King Salman.”

Ms Psaki again made clear the Biden administration’s lack of a rush in getting hold of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — another of Mr Trump’s closest foreign partners.

“Let me confirm for you that his first call with a leader in the region will be Prime Minister Netanyahu,” she said.

Ms Psaki said any personal chill did not reflect a shift in US commitment to the “important strategic security relationship” with Israel and the “critical self-defence needs” of Saudi Arabia.

AFP