On his first trip abroad as President, Donald Trump headed straight to Saudi Arabia, where he immediately inked a $11o billion arms deal with the government. What better way to celebrate than with a concert from the only musician who will be seen in the president’s company, Toby Keith? Keith played Trump’s inauguration, and made his way to Saudi Arabia to coincide with Trump’s trip to the nation’s capital of Riyadh.
But it appears the President cares as much about live music as he does for the National Endowment for the Arts–very little. According to a pool report from the KSA, Trump, the Saudi Arabian King, and the First Lady simply rode a golf cart through the lobby of the National Museum, near a live stream of the concert. The party “was wheeled into the atrium where the men-only Toby Keith concert was playing on the large screen.” A second golf cart containing Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner followed, the report said. “Both carts made their way across the atrium. Unclear where they went to after that.”
As noted, the free concert was for an audience of men only. Keith played alongside lutist Rabeh Saqer. Keith did not mention the concert on his frequently updated Twitter profile. But there’s video of the show all over social media:
Thank You ❤️?@GEA_SA @RabehSaqer @TobyKeithMusic #حفلة_رابح_صقر_وتوبي_كيث pic.twitter.com/Y0LhrsZwKd
— ??? (@92M0d) May 20, 2017
As is the nature of our current cyberpunk dystopia, the press was kept at arm’s length.
I can report that the White House travel pool is now watching a live feed of Toby Keith's all-male concert in Riyadh. The lutist is opening.
— Julie Pace (@JuliePace) May 20, 2017
Nothing surprises us any more.
