When the F-35s tore across the sky above the White House on Tuesdaylow, loud, and flying in a perfect Vit looked less like a foreign visit and more like a demonstration. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wasn't just being welcomed back to Washington. He was being showcased, affirmed, and rehabilitatednot despite what happened seven years ago, but because the price had been paid.
A senior official in Mohammed bin Salman's entourage, who is understood to be accompanying the crown prince on his first trip back to the US in over a decade, has previously been accused by US prosecutors of playing a central role in a conspiracy to infiltrate Twitter and identify users who were posting critically about the Saudi regime. Bader al-Asaker, who has headed Prince Mohammed's private office since before he became crown prince,