AFTER ALL THAT?

Biden Fist Bumps With Saudi Leader Accused of Ordering Khashoggi Hit

After much speculation, the president greeted Mohammad bin Salman with a hearty fist bump Friday.

After President Joe Biden shook hands with some Israeli leaders and not others Wednesday—sending mixed messages about White House measures to minimize contact amid a COVID surge—the president bumped fists with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince when they met at Al Salam Royal Palace in Jeddah Friday morning. Some have speculated that Biden began bumping fists on his Middle East trip so he could avoid being photographed shaking hands with Mohammad bin Salman, who the CIA believes ordered the operation to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. When campaigning for president, Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” for Khashoggi’s death, and he said in June that he would not meet with the crown prince. But the president defended his meeting with bin Salman as necessary for diplomacy in a Thursday news conference, saying “The reason I’m going to Saudi Arabia is to promote U.S. interests in...[and] to reassert our influence in the Middle East.”