U.S. reevaluates relationship with Saudi Arabia over cut in oil production

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Well, relations between the White House and the Saudi Arabia's ruling royal family are at a low point and may be set to dive even lower.

  From President Biden's fighting words on the campaign trail to recent Saudi-led cuts in global oil supplies, the status of the more than 75-year-old alliance is troubled, and many in the administration and on Capitol Hill want a reset.

  Nick Schifrin begins our coverage.

• Narrator:

  One of the most colorful visits to the presidential cruiser was that of the ruler of Saudi Arabia.

• Nick Schifrin:

  America's longest relationship with an Arab state began 77 years ago. Four-time elected U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and Ibn Saud, the warrior monarch backed by a fanatical clergy, created a fundamental agreement, American security in exchange for Saudi energy.

  But, today, that agreement must be reexamined, President Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper last night.

  Joe Biden, President of the United States: There's going to be some consequences for what they've done with Russia.

• Nick Schifrin:

  What the Saudis did with fellow OPEC leader Russia is the largest oil production cut in more than two years, over U.S. warnings. It was announced by OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais.

• Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC Secretary-General:

  We are not endangering the energy markets. We are providing security, stability to the energy markets.

• Question:

  At a price.

• Haitham Al Ghais:

  Everything has a price.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Including the U.S.-Saudi relationship. In the 1970s, Saudi Arabia helped lead an oil embargo over U.S. support for Israel.

• Question:

  You have declared a jihad against the United States. Can you tell us why?

• Nick Schifrin:

  The kingdom claims it fights the fires of radicalism, but critics call it the arsonist. The Saudi Osama bin Laden sparked global attacks against the West and its Arab allies. Fifteen of 9/11 hijackers were Saudi.

  And decades of criticism of Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record crescendoed in 2018 after journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi Istanbul's consulate, was murdered, and cut into pieces.

  The U.S. intelligence community assessed the operation was approved by the kingdom's powerful crown prince and future king, Mohammed bin Salman. The following year, candidate Joe Biden promised punishment.

• Joe Biden:

  We are going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact the pariah that they are.

• Nick Schifrin:

  But that proved to be a speed bump that preceded this year's fist bump. President Biden and his team worked with MBS, an acknowledgment the kingdom has helped the U.S. for decades across continents.

  In the late '70s, Saudi Arabia provided crucial support for the Afghan mujahideen to defeat the Soviet military and help collapse the Soviet Union. In the early '90s, Saudi Arabia invited the largest U.S. overseas deployment in decades. U.S. troops used the kingdom as a base to fight the Gulf War. After 9/11, the Bush administration held onto the alliance to cooperate on terrorism and target al-Qaida.

  And, in 2017, President Trump made Saudi Arabia his first overseas stop. Saudi Arabia and its allies helped shift U.S. regional policy. And Riyadh-Washington cooperation helped lead to the historic 2020 normalization agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE.

• Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Adviser:

  Today, the Biden administration is releasing our national security strategy.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Today, the U.S. acknowledges it's well aware that the relationship provides benefits, but the administration will review the relationship and consult lawmakers, including Democrats, who today called for a one-year block on weapons sales.

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT):

  Saudi Arabia has broken trust with America. And it needs to come to its senses.

• Nick Schifrin:

  The U.S.-Saudi relationship has survived previous challenges. The administration says there's no timetable for its review.

  For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Nick Schifrin.

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