RIYADH: US President Donald Trump along with other White House officials participated in a ceremonial sword dance in Saudi Arabia outside the Murabba Palace.
Trump arrived here accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump on Saturday on a two-day trip, beginning his first foreign trip as President that includes visits to Israel, the Vatican City, Belgium and Italy where he is to take part in NATO and G7 summits.
Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were also travelling as part of the presidential entourage.
Video of the dance shows Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dancing with swords perched on their shoulders as part of a line of men in traditional Saudi garb ahead of a state dinner.
Trump, surrounded by Saudi officials, bops back and forth with a smile on his face, while White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn appear more reserved in their moves.
The traditional men’s sword dance is known as the ‘ardah’.
