To say that Saudi Arabia is excited about U.S. President Donald Trump's arrival might be a bit of an understatement.
The kingdom has even launched an online clock counting down the seconds until the start of the Arab Islamic American Summit, which will bring Trump face-to-face with leaders of more than 50 Muslim majority countries on Saturday and Sunday.
Despite Trump's anti-Muslim and anti-Saudi rhetoric, Riyadh has expressed nothing but enthusiasm for the former reality TV star and businessman's ascension to power.
In January, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said that the kingdom welcomes Trump's plan to "restore America’s role in the world."
"Our interests align," he said.
After having lunch with Trump in March, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the U.S. president a "true friend of Muslims," and defended the president's efforts to ban immigrants from several Muslim majority countries.
Trump strongly criticized his political opponent Hillary Clinton for her ties to Saudi Arabia during the presidential campaign. He accused the kingdom of mistreating gays and women. In the past, Trump has also suggested that Saudi Arabia was responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001.
During his campaign he also suggested he would block all imports of Saudi oil in the future, although this looks unlikely to happen especially since Saudi Aramco has recently taken over the largest oil refinery in north America.
In April, Trump said "Saudi Arabia has not treated us [the U.S.] fairly," lamenting the amount of money the U.S. spends on "defending" the kingdom.
But Trump has also lauded the kingdom as an ally and a friend. Choosing Saudi Arabia as his first international destination since taking office demonstrates his commitment to the historic relationship.
Despite Trump's erratic positions toward the kingdom, Saudi leaders are ready to embrace him with the full red carpet treatment when he arrives this weekend.
"The Saudis are rolling out the red carpet for President Trump," Saudi analyst Gregory Gause, a professor at Texas A & M University, told NPR.
"They are certainly not deterred by some of the anti-Muslim rhetoric that we heard on the campaign trail," he said. "They want this to be, I think, an occasion to move the president away from some of those thoughts, not by criticism, but by kind of embracing him."