Eight years ago, the dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents working from their consulate in Istanbul.
It is widely believed, including by US intelligence agencies, that Mohammed bin Salman gave the kill order.
Today, that is all in the rear-view mirror.
For the first time since the murder, Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince – who is also the country’s de facto ruler – was welcomed to the White House.
He was received with all the pageantry of a state visit.
There were military officers on horseback, riding with the US and Saudi flags, a band on the South Lawn of the White House, a flyover, and a warm embrace from President Trump.
Trump is the ultimate transactional president, and that will be on full display for the next 24 hours.
He isn’t too concerned with human rights; he is deeply animated by the thought of major Saudi investments in the United States, and he dismisses critics who say that he blends personal business interests and US foreign policy.
The president sees Saudi Arabia as a powerful, modernising regional force that the US should do business with.
He wants a huge flow of Saudi investment into the US economy. He is willing to sell F-35 fighter jets to Riyadh in return.
President Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince to the White House on Tuesday.
Ultimately, the president would like to see normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which he portrays as the logical conclusion to the groundbreaking Abraham Accords.
No one believes that will happen while the Gaza ceasefire is so fragile and while Israel rejects the idea of a Palestinian state.
For MBS, as the Crown Prince is known, this is a diplomatic triumph.
This White House visit completes his rehabilitation.
But for the widow of Jamal Khashoggi, Hanan Elatr, it is a moment for tremendous sorrow.
As she told ITV News, while MBS is being feted by Donald Trump, she still hasn’t been told by the Saudis where the remains of her husband are.
She wants to give Jamal a burial and for his killers to face justice. That, she tearfully told me, is not too much to ask for.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
