When Biden Met M.B.S.

<p>In the past, President Biden has called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for its human rights abuses and said that he would never meet with its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.</p><p>But Mr. Biden’s first trip as president to the Middle East included talks with the prince. What prompted the change in course?</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/ben-hubbard?smid=pc-thedaily">Ben Hubbard</a>, the Beirut bureau chief for The New York Times.</p><p>Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Mr. Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia garnered<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/world/middleeast/biden-mbs-saudi-visit.html"> scathing criticism and modest accords</a>.</li><li>An unspoken result of Mr. Biden’s meeting with Prince Mohammed: A<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/16/world/middleeast/khashoggi-biden-mohammed-bin-salman.html"> setback in the case of Jamal Khashoggi</a>, a journalist who was killed by Saudi agents in 2018.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>