Biden Says ‘No Direct Plans’ to Visit Saudi Arabia Right Now

  • President won’t say whether he would meet with crown price
  • Visit would demonstrate shift in Biden’s diplomatic priorities

President Joe Biden speaks from the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on June 3.

Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
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President Joe Biden said he has “no direct plans” to visit Saudi Arabia but that he’d likely meet with the kingdom’s leaders if a trip came together, despite having once vowed to make the country a “pariah.”

“I have no direct plans at the moment,” to visit Saudi Arabia, Biden said Friday in Delaware. “There is a possibility that I would be going to meet with both the Israelis and some Arab countries at the time, including, I expect, would be -- Saudi Arabia would be included in that if I did go.”