Joe Biden walked on the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One after speaking with reporters, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:08 AM PT – Wednesday, February 17, 2021
The Biden administration seems to be distancing itself from foreign allies. During a press briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dodged reporters who questioned when Joe Biden would reach out to leaders in Israel and Saudi Arabia.
This comes amid accusations Biden is “snubbing” countries that had friendly ties with the U.S. during the Trump administration. Although there is no set date on a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Psaki assured the public the U.S. is still in communication with Israel.
“Israel, of course, an ally. Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship and our team is fully engaged, not at the at the head of state level quite yet, but very soon,” she stated. “But our team is fully engaged, having constant conversations at many levels with the Israelis.”
Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki refuses to say that Israel is an allyhttps://t.co/Uox9IyodS8 pic.twitter.com/MZ4pcxDDqx
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 12, 2021
In the meantime, Psaki said the White House is looking to “re-calibrate” relations with Saudi Arabia. Instead of speaking to the Crown Prince, however, the press secretary noted Biden plans to return to what she called “counterpart to counterpart engagement.”
“The president’s counterpart is King Salman and I expect at an appropriate time he will have a conversation with him,” she stated. “I don’t have a prediction on the timeline for that.”
Psaki added, Saudi Arabia has critical self-defense needs and the U.S. will continue to work with the Saudis on this, even as it makes clear areas where they have disagreements and where they have concerns.
