Biden fist bumps Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid criticism of meeting

Three years after he vowed, as a presidential candidate, to make Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a "global pariah," President Joe Biden was given a warm welcome on Friday in Jeddah as he sat across from Saudi Arabia's de-facto leader.

"Mr. President, welcome to Saudi Arabia," said a smiling crown price, clearly delighted that Biden made the trip to his turf.

Mohammed bin Salman and members of the Saudi delegation appeared warm throughout their brief discussion, with the powerful Saudi leader appearing to nod as Biden spoke to him.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden participates in a working session with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Al Salman Royal Palace, July 15, 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Before reporters were ushered out, they peppered the leaders, unsuccessfully, with questions, asking the crown prince if he would apologize to the family of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident whose murder U.S. intelligence says the crown prince ordered.

When one asked Biden if Saudia Arabia is still a pariah state, a noticeable smirk was briefly spotted on Mohammed bin Salman's face.

PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman fist bumps President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Al Salman Palace, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022. (Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Royal Court via Reuters)

Biden, continuing his first visit to the Middle East as president, shared a fist bump with Mohammed bin Salman upon meeting him outside the Al Salam Royal Palace,, ahead of their highly-anticipated meeting despite criticism around the Saudi Arabia stop.

PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022. (Bandar Algaloud/Saudi Royal Court via Reuters)

Biden met, separately, with the prince's father, King Salman.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Salam Palace in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 15, 2022. (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP via Getty Images)

The president stepped off Air Force One in Jeddah and onto a lavender carpet -- symbolic of blooming flowers in the Saudi Kingdom -- shortly after 11 a.m. ET, descending the steps and greeted immediately by two individuals. He fist bumped the first greeter and shook hands with others. The president then walked towards the Beast, stopping to greet a few other officials lined up for his arrival, accompanied by national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan declined to say earlier this week if the public would see the president and the crown prince shake hands, and Biden has repeatedly declined to say whether he will bring up the 2018 murder of and Washington Post columnist Khashoggi with him -- despite immense pressure to snub the leader over alleged human rights atrocities, particularly since a U.S. intelligence report found Mohammad bin Salman directly approved the murder operation at a Saudi embassy in Turkey in 2018.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden is greeted by Saudi Arabia officials as he arrives at King Abdulaziz International Airport, July 15, 2022, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Sullivan pushed back again Friday on a reporter's suggestion that Biden was "dancing around" whether he would directly address Khashoggi's murder, despite the slain journalist's fiancé saying the White House assured her his specific case would be raised.

"I think it's wrong to say the president was dancing around it," Sullivan said, ticking through Biden's statement on the matter.

"First statement, he doesn't describe the details of what he is going to raise in meetings, particularly before he's had them, because he wants to go have those meetings. Second statement, he always raises issues of human rights, and this will be no different," Sullivan said.

Although, as a presidential candidate, Biden vowed to make oil-rich Saudi Arabia a "pariah" state over Khashoggi's murder, the rapprochement in U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations comes at a time when gas prices have skyrocketed as the West has attempted to boycott Russian oil, ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, and as Biden faces calls to balance security interests with human rights concerns.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden is welcomed at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah on July 15, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden has defended his trip to the oil-rich nation, writing in an op-ed for The Washington Post published ahead of his visit that "my aim was to reorient -- but not rupture -- relations with a country that's been a strategic partner for 80 years."

"As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure," he wrote. "We have to counter Russia's aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world."

But Sullivan on Friday ahead of the meeting downplayed any chance of an agreement from Saudi Arabia to increase oil production as a result of Biden's meetings in the kingdom.

"I don't think you should expect a particular announcement here bilaterally," he told reporters on AF1. "We will discuss energy security at this meeting," he said broadly, when asked if the public should expect an agreement.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden, speaks during an arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 13, 2022. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Since taking office, Biden has spoken twice with King Salman, the crown prince's father, who officially rules the country, but had dispatched Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to serve as his administration's point of contact with the crown prince, in what was widely perceived as a snub to the powerful Saudi leader.

On Saturday, Biden plans to attend a summit of Arab leaders in Jeddah, a meeting that the crown prince will also attend, though it's not yet clear how the two leaders will interact or engage there.

Biden noted in his op-ed he would be the first U.S. president to fly from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, describing it as a "small symbol" of the deepening ties between Israel and the Arab world.