Biden's fist bump with MBS 'a win' for US President: Saudi foreign minister
CNN
Joe Biden's controversial fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was "a win" for the US President, the Saudi foreign minister told CNN in an exclusive interview on Saturday.
The US President has faced a backlash over the informal way he greeted the kingdom's de facto ruler on his arrival in Jeddah on Friday. Critics have said the fist bump was inappropriate given US suspicions that the Crown Prince was responsible for the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi -- and Biden's subsequent 2020 campaign trail pledge to turn Saudi Arabia into a "pariah".
But Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan played down the controversy in an interview with CNN's Nic Robertson hours after the President left Jeddah on Saturday.
The US began pulling military equipment and additional personnel out of Niger on Friday after waiting months for the ruling military junta to approve US military flights into the country, two sources familiar with the matter said Saturday, ahead of a September 15 withdrawal deadline agreed to by the two countries.