President Trump on Tuesday blamed former President Biden for foreign policy stances that he argued strained partnerships in the Middle East while speaking in Saudi Arabia to a group of government and business leaders.
“The Biden administration’s extreme weakness and gross incompetence derailed progress towards peace, destabilized the region and put at risk everything we worked so hard to build together,” Trump said, calling the Biden administration “hostile” toward the Middle East.
While speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, he praised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for what he was able to accomplish over the last four years under Biden and said that his predecessor had the “worst administration in the history of our country.”
Trump also said when Biden lifted sanctions on Iran, “they laughed at him.”
“They laughed at our leader and they’re still laughing at our leader. They thought him a fool and they made nothing but trouble ever since, including the funding of Oct. 7,” Trump said.
He decried Biden for removing the foreign terrorist organization label on the Houthis in February 2021 and repeated his claims from the 2024 campaign trail that the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel wouldn’t have occurred if he were president.
The president also reiterated calls for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which were established in his first term.
“I think it’ll be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them, and they’ve been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined. The Biden administration did nothing for four years,” Trump said. “We would have had it filled out, but it will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us.”
Biden in 2022 said he strongly supports the Abraham Accords as a way to integrate Israel in the Middle East.
The former president famously greeted the crown prince with a fist bump in 2022 ahead of their meeting in Jeddah. The trip to Saudi Arabia and face-to-face meeting was controversial given Biden previously condemned Saudi leadership on the 2020 campaign trail over the killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Trump has blamed Biden for a slew of issues in various speeches for the nearly four months he has been in office. He spent the week marking the 100th day of his second term blaming Biden for a wide range of economic issues and mocking him.
