Seven years after the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was effectively banned from setting foot in Washington over the assassination of a prominent Saudi dissident, he was welcomed warmly yesterday and President Donald Trump signaled that the prince would be at the center of his efforts to create a new political order in the Middle East, writes the “New York Times“.
The de facto leader of the largest and richest Arab country, whom the previous US President Joe Biden ordered to be treated as a “pariah“ six years ago, was now welcomed to the White House with pomp and ceremony and full honors, says the publication.
The crown prince received a commitment from Trump to sell him F-35 stealth fighters despite Israel's objections, the “New York Times“ notes. At the same time, he managed to postpone, most likely for years, any discussion of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords and recognizing the Jewish state, the newspaper points out.
Trump also defended the Saudi crown prince from accusations that he ordered the murder of “Washington Post“ journalist Jamal Khashoggi, stating that “things like this happen” and that he does not consider the Saudi leader responsible for the 2018 assassination, although American intelligence believes the opposite, the American metropolitan publication writes.
Trump welcomed Salman to the Oval Office with a friendly attitude and a firm handshake, while at the same time mocking former President Joe Biden for suggesting that the crown prince shake hands in 2022 because he did not want to shake hands with a man whose behavior regarding human rights has been sharply criticized by American intelligence services, the newspaper commented.
The welcome of Salman, which was more pompous than that of any other world leader during Trump's second term, was indicative of the sympathy that the American president feels for the Saudi prince, the “Washington Post“ points out.
Although the visit of the Saudi crown prince was Billed as a working trip, the welcoming ceremony had all the trappings of an official state visit - soldiers on horseback carrying American and Saudi flags, as well as a flyover of F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, the Guardian newspaper writes.
Trump also confirmed that he intends to sell Riyadh the "most advanced" F-35 stealth fighters, despite Israeli objections and the concerns of American intelligence services, the publication says.
The concerns in Israel are due to the fact that the country is currently the only one in the Middle East that owns this high-tech aircraft, and this gives it a great military advantage over other Middle Eastern countries, the Guardian newspaper comments. The potential sale of the advanced aircraft has also alarmed US intelligence agencies due to Saudi Arabia's close ties with China, which has raised concerns that the technology in the F-35 could be stolen, the newspaper added.
The main foreign policy goal that Trump would like to achieve at his meeting with the crown prince is for Saudi Arabia to normalize its relations with Israel, but this still seems unlikely, the British newspaper “Telegraph“ writes. Salman insisted that it was first necessary to outline a “clear path“ for the creation of a Palestinian state before his country would sign the Abraham Accords, the newspaper said.
V. “Telegraph“ quotes Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow at the international affairs think tank Chatham House, who believes that the crown prince will not "leave Washington with anything very tangible or real. The purpose of the visit is more to demonstrate that it can happen," he adds.
However, this may not bother the prince, because this week he will leave Washington with more confidence that he enjoys the sympathy of the American president than almost any other leader in the world, the publication concludes.