On Tuesday 18 November, Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has become a close ally of the United States, with great pomp and ceremony. Among many topics, the two heads of state, who have strong business ties, agreed on the delivery of American F-35 aircraft to Riyadh in exchange for 600 billion dollars of Saudi investment in the United States. MBS also obtained security and strategic guarantees in the Middle East, particularly on the Palestinian question. This is cause for concern for Israel, the United States’ other ally.

Donald Trump finally set about rehabilitating his princely ally, describing him as ‘highly respected for human rights’. In response to a journalist’s question about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2019, Trump said that ‘a lot of people didn’t like this gentleman’ and MBS calmly replied that he ‘knew nothing about it’…