Biden Fist Bumps ‘Killer’ Crown Prince, Avoids All Press Contact In Saudi Arabia

President Joe Biden has arrived on Air Force One in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Friday. After being greeted by local officials, he quickly entered a car and his motorcade took him to meet King Salman. The meeting with the king is expected to be brief, with CNN speculating a likely mere 30 minutes or less, given that 86-year old Salman has long been in declining health. 

But all eyes are on the much anticipated meeting with the actual, de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, expected to take place later. The murder of Jamal Khashoggi looms heavily over the whole visit, as well as the question of oil production and other hot button issues, which is why neither MbS nor President Biden are expected to address media questions at all.

Here it is: Video of Pres. Biden just landing in #Saudi Arabia, coming from Israel. First US President to do so as Kingdom agreed to open airspace to all carriers inc Israel pic.twitter.com/ALupeLTSPk

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) July 15, 2022

As The New York Post underscored this week that Biden will be carefully shielded from any potentially awkward inquiries from reporters:

President Biden won’t hold a press conference when he travels to Saudi Arabia and meets with killer Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said Wednesday — days after Biden insisted in an op-ed that “fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad.”

“We don’t have a press conference for Saudi [Arabia],” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One en route to Israel for the first leg of Biden’s trip.

She still tried to say, “what we are trying to do is trying to make sure that you guys hear from the president in Saudi [Arabia], on the bilats [bilateral meetings], on the trip, and make sure that you guys hear directly from him.” Though it’s unclear what this means or if it will result in any interaction with reporters whatsoever. 

NEW: @POTUS now meeting #Saudi King Salman at Al Salam Royal Palace, closed press, “officials only” according to @WhiteHouse.
Earlier Biden was seen fist bumping Saudi Crown Prince MBS.

— Patsy Widakuswara (@pwidakuswara) July 15, 2022

#BREAKING: @POTUS received in #Jeddah after landing at King Abdulaziz International Airport #BidenVisit https://t.co/lPfbzRW6il pic.twitter.com/OWYN9k5FcO

— Arab News (@arabnews) July 15, 2022

In flying from Tel Aviv to Jeddah, Biden became the first American president in history to fly directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

Last night, the Saudis announced that for the first time it would open airspace for all such flights – which suggests the kingdom could be poised to join the Abraham Accords and establish diplomatic relations with the Jewish state for the first time.

Biden touched down in Saudi Arabia-
A long way from his 2019 Pariah comments. 🇺🇸 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/Zbch5Ob66H

— Firas Maksad (@FirasMaksad) July 15, 2022

Entering the meeting place where King Salman is hosting, a smiling Joe Biden briefly greeted crown prince bin Salman with a fist-bump.

Watch:

US President Joe Biden arrives at Al Salam Palace in Jeddah, #Saudi Arabia and welcomed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump. #SaudiArabia #Biden pic.twitter.com/HNyZMreanx

— Mohamed Samir (@Moh_S_Khedr) July 15, 2022

This is coming off some prior warm handshakes and fist bumps with Israeli leaders…

Bloomberg wrote an entire article contemplating if Joe Biden would offend the crown prince of Saudi Arabia’s regime if he gave him a fist bump. pic.twitter.com/E2egeMemaK

— 🅹🅾️🅴🆈աrecκ ☭ (@joeywreck) July 13, 2022