Biden meets with Saudi crown prince amid tensions over Khashoggi murder

President Joe Biden arrived Friday in Saudi Arabia where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a controversial sitdown he had earlier insisted would not take place.

The crown prince greeted Biden as he arrived at the royal palace where the two leaders exchanged a fist bump, but no handshake.

Biden has alternated between handshakes and fist bumps throughout the four days of his Middle East swing after the White House said he would “minimize contact” during the trip as a Covid precaution.

Ahead of the meeting with the crown prince, Biden met one-on-one with the prince's father, King Salman, where the two shared a lengthy handshake.

The president had sought to distance himself ahead of the trip from the crown prince, who the U.S. intelligence community concluded was behind the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.