While waiting for President Trump to arrive in a golden ballroom in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Mohammad Bahareth was radiating.
The “Trump 2028” ceiling perched on his head was distinguished in the crowd, where the Saudi men in traditional red and white checkered headdresses mixed with Americans in costume.
Mr. Bahareth, an influencer of Saudi self-assistance, was reluctant to put himself under the spotlight-until, he says, the “ruthless pragmatism” of Mr. Trump “and that daring confidence inspired him. Now, it has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, has a Tesla and considers itself a proud supporter of Trump.
“He says what he is in his mind, and he doesn’t care what people think,” Bahareth said on Tuesday when Trump approached a Saudi sales forum during a state visit to Riyadh. “Trump is being yourself.”
Mr. Bahareth, 40, is not the only Saudi lover of the American president.
Mr. Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday – the initial judgment of his first big foreign journey of his second term – splashes in the kingdom, where he praised the de facto sovereign, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, said everyone had obtained hundreds of billions of dollars in Syria.
