{"id":10245,"date":"2020-01-29T15:36:35","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T20:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T15:01:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:01:54","slug":"saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s Mohammed bin Salman garners little trust from people in the region and the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature.jpg\" alt=\"Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center) attends the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019. (Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images)\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center) attends the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 2019. (Brendan Smialowski\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (sometimes known as MBS) is the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line for the kingdom\u2019s throne. During his time in power, the prince came <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/01\/world\/middleeast\/with-saudi-prince-holding-on-to-power-us-seen-standing-by-him.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">under worldwide scrutiny<\/a> after the 2018 killing of journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom\u2019s consulate in Turkey. More recently, the United Nations has opened an inquiry into whether the crown prince hacked the cellphone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in May 2018. Bezos also owns The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are perceptions of Crown Prince Mohammed in the U.S. and among those in countries in the Middle East-North Africa region:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/ft_2020-01-29_mbs_01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ft_2020.01.29_mbs_01.png\" alt=\"Few in the Middle East and U.S. have confidence in MBS\" style=\"width:310px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most across the Middle East and in the U.S. lack confidence in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Among those in the five countries where the question was asked, Israelis have the least faith in the prince, with roughly eight-in-ten saying they doubt his ability to effectively manage international dealings. Only about a fifth of American and Lebanese respondents express confidence that the crown prince can effectively handle international concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the U.S., Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are slightly more likely to trust Crown Prince Mohammed than are Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, although both groups overwhelmingly lack confidence in him. Around a quarter of Republicans (27%) say they have confidence in the Saudi crown prince to do the right thing regarding world affairs, compared with 18% of Democrats who say this.<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This analysis focuses on how publics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) view Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s handling of world affairs. For this post, we used data from a survey conducted in four MENA nations and the U.S. from May 13 to Aug. 29, 2019, totaling 5,561 respondents. Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/MBS-Topline-for-Release-CHECKED.pdf\">the questions used<\/a> for this report, along with responses and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/interactives\/international-methodology\/all-survey\/all-country\/2019\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/ft_2020-01-29_mbs_02\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ft_2020.01.29_mbs_02.png\" alt=\"Trust in Mohammed bin Salman higher among Sunni Muslims\" style=\"width:310px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trust in the crown prince differs between religious and ethnic groups. In Israel, trust in Crown Prince Salman is slightly higher among Israeli Arabs than among Israeli Jews, even as trust is low overall in both groups. Specifically, 12% of Israeli Arabs and only 5% of Israeli Jews expressed confidence in the leader. Religious differences also are present in Lebanon. There, Sunni Muslims clearly have the most confidence in the crown prince (50%), who is also a Sunni Muslim, while few say the same among Lebanese Christians (12%) and Shiite Muslims (4%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Compared with perceptions of current <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-middle-east-30945925\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>King Salman<\/strong><\/a><strong> in 2017<\/strong><strong>, the crown prince is seen as less trustworthy in his approach to foreign affairs.<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/global\/2017\/12\/11\/key-middle-east-publics-see-russia-turkey-and-u-s-all-playing-larger-roles-in-region\/\">In 2017, Pew Research Center asked adults<\/a> in four Middle Eastern and North African countries if they had confidence in King Salman, and in all four, evaluations of the king were significantly more positive than the opinions of his son, the prince, given in 2019. Among Turks and Israelis, Crown Prince Mohammed is about as trusted as his uncle, the late King Abdullah, was in 2011, while in Lebanon, King Abdullah was considerably more popular than both his nephew and half-brother, King Salman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/ft_2020-01-29_mbs_03\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ft_2020.01.29_mbs_03.png\" alt=\"Mohammed bin Salman less trusted than his father, King Salman\" style=\"width:420px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between 2017 and 2019, events occurred that may have dampened support for Saudi leaders. Not least was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/jamal-khashoggis-murder-unresolved-one-year-on\/a-50648065\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">assassination of Khashoggi<\/a> in Istanbul, which added to already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mei.edu\/publications\/new-turkey-saudi-crisis-brewing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fraught<\/a> relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The killing also drew broad <a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2019\/02\/1032241\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">international backlash<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-11-23\/mbs-not-welcome-in-tunisia-say-activists-angry-over-khashoggi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">protests<\/a> against the crown prince\u2019s state visit to Tunisia in 2018, where confidence in Saudi leadership fell by 14 percentage points. The decline in Lebanon may be tied to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/what-you-need-to-know-about-saudi-arabias-tensions-with-lebanon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">alleged kidnapping<\/a> of now former Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri, in Saudi Arabia during a state visit in late 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The crown prince also is less trusted than other world leaders. <\/strong>In four of five countries, the share who have confidence in Crown Prince Mohammed is among the lowest, compared with other world leaders asked about in the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/ft_2020-01-29_mbs_04\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ft_2020.01.29_mbs_04.png\" alt=\"How MBS stacks up to other world leaders among people in the region\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Israel, Crown Prince Mohammed earns the least confidence among world leaders by a wide margin, trailing the next-least-trusted leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin by about 30 percentage points. Confidence in the crown prince is tied with confidence in Trump (23%) among Lebanese, and, among Americans, Crown Prince Mohammed is tied with Putin at 20% as the least trusted leaders asked about. In Turkey, similarly low shares express confidence in the crown prince\u2019s judgement in foreign affairs (14%) and that of Emmanuel Macron (14%) and Trump (11%). Only in Tunisia is Crown Prince Mohammed not at the bottom of the list, beating out Trump by a slim margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: Here are <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/MBS-Topline-for-Release-CHECKED.pdf\">the questions used<\/a> for the survey cited in this report, along with responses and its <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/interactives\/international-methodology\/all-survey\/all-country\/2019\/\">methodology<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most across the Middle East and in the U.S. lack confidence in Mohammed bin Salman to do the right thing regarding world affairs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":584,"featured_media":19457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[88,115],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[514,510],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-10245","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leaders","category-world-leaders","formats-short-read","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-middle-east-north-africa","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":787,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2020\/01\/29\/saudi-arabias-mohammed-bin-salman-garners-little-trust-from-people-in-the-region-and-the-u-s\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":19457,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/01\/FT_20.01.24_Mohammad-bin-Salman_feature-jpg.webp?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman garners little trust from people in region, U.S.","description":"Most across the Middle East and in the U.S. lack confidence in Mohammed bin Salman to do the right thing regarding world affairs.","og_title":"Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman garners little trust from people in the region and the U.S.","og_description":"Most across the Middle East and in the U.S. lack confidence in Mohammed bin Salman to do the right thing regarding world affairs.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":88,"formats":467,"regions-countries":514,"research-teams":525},"custom_schema":[],"twitter_title":"Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman garners little trust from people in the region and the U.S.","twitter_description":"Most across the Middle East and in the U.S. lack confidence in Mohammed bin Salman to do the right thing regarding world affairs.","og_image":19457,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/584"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10245"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199558,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/10245\/revisions\/199558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=10245"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=10245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}