The US is warming up to Saudi Arabia

President Trump and warming relations with America's oldest ally in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman

speaks with then-Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at the Pentagon June 16, 2016.

DoD photo by Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

President Trump didn't shake hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week – at least in front of reporters in the Oval Office, but he did provide that courtesy to another visitor: Saudi Arabia's 30-year-old Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Afterwards, the Saudis called the meeting a "historic turning point," and supported the President's travel ban. Bruce Riedel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution where he directs the Intelligence Project, says the Saudis are experiencing a historic first, both with the Trump Administration and within their own government.