On May 8, the pro-monarch Al-Watan newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Ali Sa’d Musa: “Mr President, you took the whole world by surprise when you chose Riyadh as the first stop in your first visit during your presidential term, and this unprecedented American and Western event prompted dozens of political analysts to look into the cause of your choice. However, I believe that this matter is clear to you. You are coming to the only key left to save the burning map, seeing as how Riyadh is almost the only safe and stable place that has survived the storm of uncreative chaos, owing to its exceptional awareness. All the solutions today can only stem from Riyadh’s decision, and this is our historical fate which we, in the Kingdom, are forced to embrace. Mr President, let me take you 8 years back, when around this same time of year, the infamous Barack Obama came to us, then left Riyadh to deliver his famous speech at Cairo University.

“And I can almost assure you Mr President that the Arabs’ streets and the Muslims’ map came to a complete halt to listen to him. It was a philosophical speech, which was closer to an academic lecture delivered by a university professor during a political science course. In time, we discovered it was unbefitting of the leader of a great state such as the United States, as he made us plenty of promises, but failed to deploy the least bit of effort throughout 8 years to deliver on whichever one of them. He was saying things he could not do. Mr President, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton formed an alliance between the defeated and the weak, and never was the Middle East burned throughout its history the way it was at the hands of this alliance in the American presidency. At this level, Mr President, we will spare you the talk about the devastation policies, which we believe Hillary drew up and was part of in this vital region of the world.

“But I would be clear if I say that the world knows that during his last two years, Barack Obama was an affiliate and sidekick to Vladimir Putin, which was a major insult to US history. And Barack Obama stood idly and watched the disgusting play by which Tehran effectively occupied Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen, and the Qom Seminary chose the rulers of Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sana’a. Throughout these eight years, Riyadh stood alone in the face of this Persian tide, like the only surviving brother from the plague and smallpox… In short, Mr President, we do not want an American leader like yourself to come to us with a new speech similar to Obama’s, as we are pessimistically allergic to promises and discourses. Mr President, we [in the Kingdom] know who our only enemy in the region is, and have exposed it for what it truly is after it has done to us in the last 8 years what it could not throughout 40 years.

“And you will discover, Mr President, that Riyadh is an honest and independent ally, and is the only one that holds all the keys to the solutions with reason and moderation. We only ask that you do not turn out to be another version of Obama.”