This past Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden completed a four day trip to the Middle East to reassert the United States’ presence in the region.

“The United States is going to remain an active, engaged partner in the Middle East,” Biden said during a summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

While Biden’s main objective of the trip was to lower oil prices at home, it was also about the United States’ concern about China’s influence in the Middle East.

Phyllis Bennis, director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, joined Al Jazeera to discuss takeaways from the trip, including how China fits into the equation.

One reason among many for the trip, said Bennis, was “consolidating the U.S. domination of the region that has gone on for a long time — strategic, military, and economic.” In that context, she continues, “competition with China is a key component.”

Watch the full interview below:

This interview originally appeared on Al Jazeera on Saturday, July 16, 2022.