Riyadh

Authored by Cyril Widdershoven via OilPrice.com,

Authored by Giulio Meotti via The Gatestone Institute,

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, responsible for the kingdom's reforms, left on Monday for Washington to meet President Donald Trump on a visit expected to pitch the world's top oil exporter as an attractive investment destination. It will be the first meeting since Trump took office in January between the U.S. President and the prince who is next in line to lead Saudi Arabia, and is in charge of the kingdom's efforts to revive state finances by diversifying away from falling crude oil revenues, of which the upcoming Aramco IPO will be a critical component.

We are sad to report that despite the change in administration, the "new" CIA is exactly the same as the "old" one.

In a stunning mockery of fact, either real, "alternative" or gratuitously made up, on Friday the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, received a medal from the CIA for his distinct intelligence-related counter-terrorism work and his contributions to ensure international peace and security, Al Arabiya proudly reported.

There was cheering among the libertarian community when, in the last months of his administration, Barack Obama decided to halt some arms sales to Saudi Arabia, following "allegations" of war crimes perpetrated by the kingdom in Yemen. However, it appears that Saudi Arabia - despite its clear predisposition toward Hillary Clinton in the presidential race - has made even deeper inroads into the White House than many suspected because according to the Washington Times, the Trump Administration is poised to "quickly approve" not only the deal rejected by Obama.