Way back in 2019, on a debate stage, Joe Biden was asked about Saudi Arabia and he pledged that he was “going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are. There’s very little social redeeming value of the — in the present government in Saudi Arabia.”

Shortly after Biden took office, State Department spokesman Ned Price had the awkward job of announcing that, while the U.S. was ending some arms sales related to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, the Biden administration was not going to make the kingdom a pariah state. Then, as oil prices rose, Biden traveled to Riyadh, fist-bumped MBS, and left with no deal on oil production beyond some vague pledges. A much-promised review of U.S.-Saudi relations became an informal review that never amounted to much.

Way back in October, I suggested one way for the Biden administration to demonstrate serious consequences to Saudi Arabia for its various human rights abuses and other forms of antagonism was delaying or canceling the proposed Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center over in the kingdom.

No dice. In March, “US and Royal Saudi air defense units teamed up for live-fire drills to shoot down a series of training drones mimicking the speed and altitude of a variety of Iranian attack UAVs… Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, the top commander of US forces in the Middle East, described the first Red Sands counter-drone experimentation exercise as “very successful.” And there’s another joint live-fire exercise scheduled for September.

And now, as the cherry on top, the PGA Tour announced today that it is merging with Saudi-backed LIV Golf, in what amounts to a huge win for the Saudi Kingdom.

Pariahs? Saudi Arabia has rarely had it so good.