When Donald Trump landed in Saudi Arabia in 2017, King Salman was waiting on the tarmac.
It was the president’s first trip abroad and the capital Riyadh had been transformed into a celebration of American culture, with flags, projections and music.
The arrival of Joe Biden could not have been more different. The governor of Mecca was waiting for him as he descended the stairs of Air Force One.
The president later greeted the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS) with a punch. This caution from COVID usefully prevented a handshake photo shoot, which White House aides are said to have feared.
Naturally, the Saudis have adapted their reception and adapted their diplomatic choreography to a more traditional politician. But the contrast is also a testament to the strained relations between the two nations, as Biden tries a tricky pivot from distrusting the kingdom to having to trust it.
Image: Donald Trump had a warm relationship with MBS
During the 2020 election campaign, candidate Biden said he would make the country an “outcast” because of his human rights abuses. The assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in 2018 is perhaps the most notable example.
So the punch didn’t go down well with the Washington Post calling it “embarrassing”.
The newspaper, of which Mr. Khashoggi collaborated, said in a statement: “[It] it was worse than a handshake, it was a shame.
“He projected a level of intimacy and comfort that offers MBS the unwarranted redemption it has been desperately seeking.”
The problem is that the president has realized that Saudi Arabia needs it: to help counter China’s threat, increase oil production, and improve relations with Israel. Today has been an awkward meeting.
Image: journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Analysis: Biden visits the Middle East for the first time as president, but the timing is not ideal
“You will apologize [Jamal Khashoggi’s] family? “shouted an American journalist as the two leaders sat at the start of the talks. The Crown Prince seemed to smile slightly as a Saudi aide grabbed the journalist’s arm.
There are no independent media in Saudi Arabia. Local journalists live under heavy surveillance and some have been jailed.
Earlier, President Biden had met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank. The United States has been trying to repair relations with the Palestinians since the Donald Trump administration reduced aid and brought relations to nadir.
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1:10 President Biden praises solution of two Israeli-Palestinian states at a press conference in Bethlehem
The former president had given his full support to the tough agenda of then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, endorsing the expansion of Jewish settlements and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
And on Friday in Palestine, Mr. Biden’s efforts fell on deaf ears. Although they listened to his promises, many did not buy them at all.
U.S. diplomatic history is full of necessary, albeit unconventional, links between leaders.
Biden may find his trip to Saudi Arabia a tense encounter, but more than any president, he knows the importance of the long game.