JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden gave a fist bump to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi state television showed on Friday, 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 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 White House said Biden would seek to reduce direct contact, such as shaking hands, during his visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week because of COVID-19 risks.
But Biden, a politician who likes to back slap and takes price in his down-to-earth style, was seen shaking hands repeatedly during the Israel leg of his Middle East tour.
During the visit to Saudi Arabia, Biden is expected to discuss human rights, one of several issues that strained ties after U.S. intelligence concluded the crown prince directly approved the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The crown prince denies having any role in the killing.
On arrival in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, Biden was greeted Prince Khalid al-Faisal, the governor of Mecca province and not by the crown prince, the kindgom’s de facto rule, or the elderly king.
Typically, the White House releases names ahead of landing of foreign officials who will welcome the president, but this time details only came out after Biden left the airport.
When former U.S. President Donald Trump, who enjoyed close ties with MbS, visited Saudi Arabia in 2017 he was greeted by King Salman, who has made few public appearances recently.
The Mecca governor met France’s president when he visited Jeddah late last year.
Biden departed for Israel late on Tuesday after spending part of the late afternoon and early evening shaking multiple hands on the White House South Lawn during a congressional picnic.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Aziz el Yaakoubi, Maha El Dahan and Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Catherine Evans)
