The U.S. is showing up in force to honor the passing of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama changed their travel plans in India to attend the funeral and brought with them a delegation of 29 high-profile current and former U.S. officials and members of Congress.
Top U.S dignitaries on hand for the funeral include: Secretary of State John Kerry, CIA Director John Brennan, former Secretaries of State James Baker and Condoleezza Rice, and former national security advisers Brent Scowcroft, Sandy Berger, Stephen Hadley.
When Obama and first lady Michelle arrived in Riyadh, they were greeted on the tarmac by the newly crowned Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, along with several other dignitaries and officials.
A band then played the Star-Spangled Banner before turning to the Saudi anthem and the Saudi military march.
While traveling on Air Force One, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters that the trip to Saudi Arabia is “an opportunity to both pay respects to the legacy of King Abdullah, who was a close partner with the United States, and also to touch base on some of the issues where we’re working together,” including fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, trying to stabilize Yemen and trying to roll-back Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. delegation also included Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama’s top foreign policy critic who was set to hold a broad hearing on global challenges to U.S. national security to travel to Riyadh to pay his respects. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., will lead the hearing in McCain’s absence.
Other members of Congress traveling to Saudi Arabia Tuesday are all Democrats: Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, Rep. Eliot Engel of New York and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Reps. Joe Crowley of New York and Ami Bera of California.
Senior White House officials in the delegation are: Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser; National Security Adviser Susan Rice; John Podesta, a top adviser; Anita Breckinridge, deputy chief of staff for operations; Tina Tchen, chief of staff to the first lady; Jennifer Palmieri, director of communications; Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes; Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism; press secretary Josh Earnest; and Peter Selfridge, U.S. chief of protocol.
