As he waited for President Trump to arrive in a gilded ballroom in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Mohammad Bahareth was beaming.
The “Trump 2028” cap perched on his head stood out in the crowd, where Saudi men in traditional red-and-white checkered headdresses mingled with Americans in suits.
Mr. Bahareth, a Saudi self-help influencer, used to be reluctant to step into the spotlight — until, he said, Mr. Trump’s “ruthless pragmatism” and bald confidence inspired him. Now, he has 1.5 million followers on Instagram, owns a Tesla and considers himself a proud Trump supporter.
“He says what’s on his mind, and he doesn’t care about what people think,” Mr. Bahareth said on Tuesday, when Mr. Trump addressed a Saudi-U.S. business forum during a state visit to Riyadh. “Trump is about being yourself.”
Mr. Bahareth, 40, is not the only Saudi enamored of the American president.
Mr. Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and Wednesday — the initial stop of his first major foreign trip of his second term — made a splash in the kingdom, where he heaped praise on the de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said that he had secured hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the United States and then surprised nearly everyone by announcing he would end American sanctions on Syria.
Riyadh’s Taibah Market.Credit…Vivian Nereim/The New York Times