In yet another embarrassment for President Joe Biden on the world stage, his attempts to secure more oil from foreign nations have been met with silence as Persian Gulf countries decline to throw Biden and his botched energy policy a lifeline amid record-high U.S. gas prices.
According to new reporting in The Wall Street Journal, Saudi and Emirati royals "have signaled they won’t help ease surging oil prices." So just how embarrassing is this for the supposed leader of the free world? Well, they apparently won't even pick up the phone to talk to Biden:
The White House unsuccessfully tried to arrange calls between President Biden and the de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the U.S. was working to build international support for countering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contain a surge in oil prices, said Middle East and U.S. officials.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the U.A.E.’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan both declined U.S. requests to speak to Mr. Biden in recent weeks, the officials said, as Saudi and Emirati officials have become more vocal in recent weeks in their criticisms of American policy in the Gulf.
“There was some expectation of a phone call, but it didn’t happen,“ said a U.S. official of the planned discussion between the Saudi Prince Mohammed and Mr. Biden. ”It was part of turning on the spigot [of Saudi oil].”
Woof. So President Biden, the man that he and the White House have sought to portray as the leader organizing global opposition to Vladimir Putin and his forces' bloody invasion of Ukraine, can't even get people on the phone to talk about how he's going to sustain U.S. energy demands while punishing Putin by banning Russian oil imports to the U.S.
The Journal's report also notes that "The Saudis have signaled that their relationship with Washington has deteriorated under the Biden administration," another foreign relationship that's circling the drain despite Biden's campaign pledge to renew relations with important leaders around the world (See also: France and the United Kingdom).
Both the Saudis and Emiratis "are also concerned about the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which doesn’t address other security concerns of theirs and has entered the final stages of negotiations in recent weeks," another unsurprising reality that Biden — or his handlers — should have anticipated.
Due to Biden's souring relationship with these key oil-rich nations, both have decided they'd rather stick to their agreements with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) than even talk with President Biden about his proposal to get out of the energy pickle in which he's put the United States.
Making matters worse and even more embarrassing for Biden, it's not like the Saudis and Emiratis are sitting the whole Russia-Ukraine war thing out — as The Journal notes, "Both Prince Mohammed and Sheikh Mohammed took phone calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, after declining to speak with Mr. Biden," and "They both later spoke with Ukraine’s president."
So Biden is the only one who's been iced out by the Saudis and Emiratis, potentially due in part to their "energy alliance with Russia, one of the world’s top oil producers" that "has enhanced the power of OPEC while also bringing the Saudis and Emiratis closer to Moscow."
That Saudi and Emirati leaders would decline Biden's calls is unsurprising given his previous attempt to secure more oil supplies from foreign producers was equally — and and also embarrassingly — unsuccessful.
As Townhall reported on August 17, 2021, Biden's request was rebuffed by OPEC which "denied Biden's request for more oil, saying that its member countries 'and its allies, including Russia' — conveniently — think markets 'do not need more oil than they plan to release in the coming months, despite U.S. pressure to add supplies to check an oil price rise.'"
None of Biden's undignified begging and subsequent global embarrassment would be necessary had his administration built on the energy independence enjoyed during the Trump administration. But due to his own stubbornness or fear of angering the radical climate alarmists within his party, Biden is set to keep panhandling his way around the world looking for oil to make up for shortages his policies created.