Biden Fist Bumps Saudi Crown Prince On Trip That Seeks To Reset Ties
NDTV
White House officials had worked hard on the optics of the meeting between Biden and the crown prince, known as MbS, who Biden has criticized for his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist and political opponent Jamal Khashoggi.
US President Joe Biden gave a fist bump to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday, state television showed, during a trip to Saudi Arabia that is being watched for body language and rhetoric as Washington seeks to reset relations.
White House officials had worked hard on the optics of the meeting between Biden and the crown prince, known as MbS, who Biden has criticized for his role in the killing of Washington Post journalist and political opponent Jamal Khashoggi.
In the end, it was a fist bump and wordless exchange in front of the king's royal palace in Jeddah that is likely to be the defining image of the visit by the U.S. president, who once promised to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah" state.
The president's aides suggested before he landed in Israel - the first leg of his trip - that Biden would avoid handshakes during his trip due to the rapidly spreading new coronavirus subvariant - but within minutes of his arrival in Israel Biden dispensed with the rules and was shaking hands.
