The Washington Post’s David Ignatius reported this week that President
Joe Biden will sit down with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
during a trip to the region later in June. 

The White House’s thinking here is pretty straightforward. The president
has a gargantuan domestic political liability — high gas prices — that
Saudi Arabia is in a position to help with. Combine that with the
international political realities — MBS is young and will likely lead
the kingdom for decades, the West needs new sources of oil given
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia’s role as a regional
power — and you have the makings of a rapprochement.

In a letter obtained exclusively by Playbook and being sent to Biden
today, 9/11 Families United is demanding Biden bring up “accountability
for 9/11 in any conversations” he has with MBS. If Biden doesn’t, the
family members write, “it would signal to the world that you are willing
to indulge years more of Saudi obfuscation and obstruction, and that
America prioritizes the interests of foreign powers and economics more
than the lives of its citizenry.” Read the letter

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