RIYADH, Saudi Arabia–After a royal airport greeting, President Obama’s motorcade sped off to King Abdullah’s private farm, where the two are expected to have private meetings well into the night. The official diplomacy, however, was preceded by some brief and bland public remarks, marked primarily by the fact that Obama tried out a little bit of Arabic, thanking the King for his welcome with the Arabic word, “Shukran,” which means Thank You.
The full transcript after their public comments is posted after the jump.
Q Mr. President, what’s your message, sir, here?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is my first visit to Saudi Arabia, but I’ve had several conversations with His Majesty. And I’ve been struck by his wisdom and his graciousness. Obviously the United States and Saudi Arabia have a long history of friendship, we have a strategic relationship. And as I take this trip and we’ll be visiting Cairo tomorrow, I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek His Majesty’s counsel and to discuss with him many of the issues that we confront here in the Middle East.
So I just want to again thank him for his extraordinary generosity and hospitality. And I m confident that working together the United States and Saudi Arabia can make progress on a whole host of issues and mutual interests.
KING ABDULLAH: (As translated.) I thank you, Mr. President, for the kind words and the kind sentiments expressed within them. I am not surprised, given the historic and strategic ties between our two countries, I believe that go back to the time of the meeting between the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the late King Abdul-Aziz.
I also want to express my best wishes to the friendly American people who are represented by a distinguished man who deserves to be in this position.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Shukran.