Biden’s Dilemmas, Part 1: Punishing Saudi Arabia

<p>Joe Biden has had harsh words for the Saudis and the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.</p><p>It appeared that the period of appeasement toward the Saudis in the Trump administration was over. But the Biden administration’s inaction over a report that implicated the crown prince in the 2018 killing of the dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappointed many of his allies.</p><p>Today, the first of a two-part look at what we’re learning about the Biden administration. First, a look at its approach to Saudi Arabia. </p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-e-sanger">David E. Sanger</a>, a White House and national security correspondent for The Times. </p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/signup/NTTD?smid=pc-thedaily">Sign up here</a> to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>For President Biden, deliberation and caution has thus far been<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/us/politics/biden-foreign-policy.html"> his approach on the world stage.</a></li><li>The president has decided<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html"> not to penalize</a> the Saudi crown prince over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, fearing a breach in relations. This decision will disappoint many in the human rights community and in his own party. </li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit </p><p><a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily.</a></p><p> Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>