President Joe Biden defended his upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia in The Washington Post and pledged to give attention to human rights on his visit with the crown prince, a meeting that has been widely criticized by opponents of Mohammed Bin Salman’s policies.
“I know that there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. My views on human rights are clear and long-standing,” the president wrote in the opinion piece publishing Sunday. He is slated to travel to Israel and Saudi Arabia this coming week.
“As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world,” he said. “To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes.”
