Joe Biden went hat in hand to Saudi Arabia to beg for oil, even meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after he said he wouldn’t–and after Biden called the kingdom a “pariah” nation. When he came out of the meeting, it was clear Biden had nothing, but he tried to make it appear he had something.

After going to Saudi Arabia to beg them for more oil, Joe Biden says it will "begin shortly."

Not a word about American energy production. pic.twitter.com/cIH9fcRSrr

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 15, 2022

“We had a good discussion on ensuring global energy security and adequate oil supplies to support global economic growth,” Biden said. “That will begin shortly. And…I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen. The Saudis share that urgency and based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks.”

Notice that doesn’t say much of anything — it doesn’t announce any deal for more oil. There was no concrete step made — or he would have announced it. All he ended up saying is he hoped there would be “further steps” — which isn’t anything.

But the Saudis even crushed that, sweeping the leg out from under Biden’s claim, making it clear that there were no concrete “further steps.”

A joint statement after the event, released by Saudi Arabia, made no mention of oil supply increases but said the two countries “renewed their commitment towards the stability of global energy markets” and that the US “welcomed the kingdom’s commitment to support balance in the global oil market”.

The Saudi reading of the Biden-MbS meeting is more circumspect. Adel Al-Jubeir, a top Saudi diplomat briefing afterward, said that Riyadh will produce more oil **if it sees a shortage** (that’s a long standing Saudi policy). And he indicated Riyadh will work via OPEC+ | #OOTT

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) July 15, 2022

Imagine having to trust Saudi Arabia’s take more than that of Joe Biden. But, their take is more honest than his.

In other words, this was largely just a performance by Biden to convince us he was doing something, and he was willing to throw all his prior words about Saudi Arabia and MBS away in the process. He was even mocked by the fiancee of the late Jamal Kashoggi.

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancé reacts to Biden’s meeting with MBS. https://t.co/UJi7AA1iTd

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 15, 2022

Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal — who had previously served as head of Saudi intelligence and an ambassador to the U.S. — told CNBC that Biden was a “much-diminished president” compared with when he was inaugurated in January 2021.

“As an example, on energy issues, he came in with a policy to stop completely fossil fuel usage not only in the United States, but worldwide,” Prince Turki said. Now, Biden has a need for fossil fuel, “not only because of the Ukraine war, but also because of U.S. policy itself that shut down pipelines and stopped issuing….discovery of oil on U.S. soil,” Turki said.

That’s right on target, but it’s not good when you have the Saudis mocking the person we have occupying the highest seat in the land. That doesn’t help out national security interests or our standing in the world. But, it’s not going to get better until Joe Biden leaves office.