Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, visited the US this week for the first time in seven years – and Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for his favorite Arab autocrat. On Tuesday, Trump hosted the prince for lunch and talks at the White House, followed by a black-tie dinner that included members of Congress, business leaders and top administration officials. The next day, Trump and the prince appeared together at a US-Saudi investment summit at the Kennedy Center.

It’s all part of a rehabilitation tour for Prince Mohammed, years after US intelligence agencies concluded that he had ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident. In October 2018, Khashoggi was ambushed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-member hit team, who dismembered his body with a bone saw. For a time, the killing turned Prince Mohammed into an international pariah. But Trump never wavered in his support of the Saudi leader, and during his first term protected the prince from US sanctions and pressure from Congress.

Prince Mohammed later repaid the favor to Trump: after a mob of the president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in January 2021, several US banks and other businesses cut ties with the Trump Organization, which was already reeling from financial losses that hammered the tourism industry at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. But Saudi Arabia stood by Trump and his family business, expanding various real estate deals and golf partnerships that helped Trump at one of his lowest points. During his years out of power, the kingdom and its crown prince became one of the most important sources of new deals for the Trump brand, which had become toxic for many US businesses and consumers after the Capitol riot.

Trump has now rewarded Prince Mohammed with a victory tour of the US, along with new American security guarantees for the kingdom and a planned sale of billions of dollars in advanced US fighter jets. But Trump was also eager to repay the prince’s loyalty with an extravagant welcome that is usually reserved for the closest US allies. “I just want to thank you,”

© The Guardian