• President Biden claimed Thursday that he doesn’t regret his July trip to Saudi Arabia after the Riyadh-led OPEC+ cartel of oil exporters cut production — and refused to rule out turning to Venezuela’s dictatorship next for help.
• “The trip was not, essentially not for oil,” the president told reporters while leaving the White House for a trip to Poughkeepsie, NY. “The trip was about the Middle East and about Israel and rationalization of positions. But it is a disappointment and it says that there are problems.”
• However, Biden’s meetings with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — which included an infamous fist bump in front of the global media — were widely understood to be an effort to lower record-high gas prices, which topped $5 per gallon on average in the US in June.

Tagged: #Bidenflation