The court of Donald Trump
President Donald Trump meets South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in May 2025. Official White House photo by Daniel Torok
It took the visit of a real prince to show the court of Donald Trump in all its gilded glory.
When Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the White House on November 18, the US president held court.
He was alternately judge and king.
He sat in judgement on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. “Things happen,” he said of the fact that Khashoggi’s body was dismembered with a bone saw. And he clasped MBS’s hands repeatedly, joking: “I don’t give a hell where that hand’s been” .
As (faux) king, Mr Trump sat with his smiley royal visitor surrounded by gold artefacts and gilded carvings. The ‘goldening’ of the Oval Office has proceeded apace in Mr Trump’s second term, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt describing it as a “golden office for the golden age”.
‘King’ Trump showered the visiting prince with golden gifts, namely a US security commitment, cutting-edge fighter jets, major non-NATO ally status, civil nuclear cooperation, and AI chips. Essentially, Mr Trump offered the crucial American economic, military, political and technological support the Saudi Crown Prince needs to achieve his domestic and regional ambitions All this, without MBS budging on the issue of normalising relations with Israel so long as there is no certain path to Palestinian statehood.
Has Mr Trump cracked the kingship formula? Actor Jeff Bridges once said “unless people are treating you like royalty, you ain’t no king, man”.
MBS, at least, appears to treat Mr Trump like royalty.
