Donald Trump Golfs With the Saudis as Nation Snubs Joe Biden on World Stage – Newsweek

A golf course in New York run by Donald Trump's company will play host to a Saudi-backed golf tournament this week, the same day as Saudi Arabia announced it has rejected an appeal by the Biden administration to delay OPEC's recent decision to reduce oil production.

The three-day women's Aramco Team Series will begin on October 13 at Trump Golf Links in Ferry Point, New York, the second time this year a course managed by the former president's company hosted a tournament linked to Saudi Arabia.

The Aramco Team Series is separate from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, which Trump was previously criticized for hosting this summer over allegations that the tour was being used to help Saudi Arabia to get good publicity after being accused of human rights abuses.

The start of this week's tournament comes as Saudi Arabia announced that the U.S. government had formally requested that OPEC delay its recent decision on reducing oil production by a month, an appeal which was ultimately rejected.

The group of major oil-producing nations known as OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, confirmed on October 5 that it will dramatically reduce the amount of oil it will be producing, a move that threatens to raise gasoline prices in the U.S. just ahead of the midterms.

Biden, who will be hoping that the Democrats can hold onto control of both the House and Congress in November, saw his approval ratings plummet earlier this year amid record gas prices and rising inflation levels.

In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry didn't specifically mention that the U.S. government sought a delay on the OPEC decision until early November.

"The government of the kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the U.S. administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences," the ministry said.

The move to reduce oil production was seen by critics as purposely siding with Russia amid the war in Ukraine and retaliation for Biden's criticism of Saudi Arabia over their human rights violations and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

The decision to cut oil production also arrived after Biden visited Saudi Arabia for the first time as president in an attempt to keep crude oil flowing.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rejected a request to speak to Biden on the phone as the president tried to convince the Kingdom to pump more oil to ease the pressure of the Russian oil ban.

Biden, who called Saudi Arabia a "pariah" during his 2020 election campaign, told CNN that Saudi Arabia will face "consequences for what they've done" with regards to the OPEC+ decision.

"I'm not going to get into what I'd consider and what I have in mind. But there will be consequences," Biden said.

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Donald Trump Golfs With the Saudis as Nation Snubs Joe Biden on World Stage - Newsweek