Specter of problematic crown prince looms over Biden’s Saudi Arabia policy

The president has snubbed Mohammed bin Salman, but the ruler recently labelled a psychopath' is a problem that won't go away

When Joe Biden was recently asked whether gas prices would come down soon, the US president offered a cryptic explanation of how his strained relations with Saudi Arabia were at least partly to blame for the price at the pump.

Gas prices were high because oil-rich nations in the Middle East were not increasing the supply of oil. That was happening, Biden suggested, in retaliation for his personal decision to not speak with - nor acknowledge - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as his counterpart.