President Joe Biden's relationship with Saudi Arabia, from his campaign promise to make the nation a pariah to his failed secret deal for increased oil production, can "only be described as national security malpractice," Fred Fleitz, the vice-chair of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security, told Newsmax on Sunday.
"This is not just an energy relationship; it's one of our most important security partnerships to promote stability in the Middle East to counter Iran," Fleitz, a Newsmax contributor and former chief of staff to the National Security Council, commented on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
But Biden moved immediately against Saudi Arabia, saying he would not speak with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, and then came the meeting over the summer in Saudi Arabia, when Biden thought he'd reached a deal to get the Saudis to maintain production and increase it through the fall, said Fleitz.
"But the Saudis decreased this, and now Biden wants to punish the Saudis and said there will be consequences for their actions," said Fleitz. "He wants to punish the Saudis for his bad Saudi policy."
Meanwhile, the growing relationship between Saudi Arabia with Russia is a "real concern," said Fleitz.
"Putin's foreign minister rushed to Saudi Arabia in March of 2021 to take advantage of Biden's mistakes," he said. "The Russians have signed two arms deals with the Saudis since Biden came into office, and I thought what was stunning is that Saudi Arabia now has an agreement with China to price some of its oil [through] Saudi Arabia and Chinese currency so the Chinese can get around American sanctions."
It's also a danger that the global currency could potentially shift from the U.S. dollar, but Russia and China "desperately want to change the situation," said Fleitz.
"Most transactions are based on the dollar, not all of them," he added. "It gives us an enormous amount of influence on the world scene, and it has a lot to do with American debt. There's slow progress being made to change that. It's sort of minuscule right now, but certainly, Biden is encouraging this trend, and that's not good."
Fleitz also discussed the issues with North Korea, with South Korea warning its neighbor could test a nuclear weapon before election day.
"Relations with North Korea are in free fall," he said. "They have tested 50 missiles this year, the most ever in a single year."
However, Fleitz said he doesn't think Russia and China want North Korea to test nuclear weapons, even if they do like the nation causing problems for the United States.
"North Korea's last nuclear test in 2017 may have been a hydrogen bomb, and the Chinese were worried it would leak radiation that would drift into China, but right now, I don't think the Chinese or Russians are discouraging North Korea from doing what it's doing," said Fleitz. "American relations with China and Russia are so bad, it also provides a distraction for the United States, and we're talking about North Korea and not focusing so much on China or Russia."
China, meanwhile, is trying to seize an opportunity to strike relationships around the world, including with Saudi Arabia, said Fleitz, noting the Saudis have received "Belt and Road" funds from China and plans to set itself up as a hub for Chinese businesses in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
"This is an opening we should not have allowed to happen, and I think it's going to get worse under this presidency," said Fleitz.
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