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Bush on Saudi time

Posted: Monday, January 14, 2008 12:19 PM
Filed Under:

By John Yang, NBC News' White House Correspondent 

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – It's no secret that President Bush is a man who follows the adage, "Early to bed, early to rise ... " He likes to be in bed by 9:30 p.m. and is so particular about sleeping that during the 2000 presidential campaign he was known to travel with his own pillow.

In her famous 2005 monologue at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, First Lady Laura Bush joked: "I said to him the other day, ‘George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later.’"

He appears to be following her advice.

Monday’s palace meeting with Saudi Arabian King Abdullah – an 83-year-old night-owl who often does business after midnight – is scheduled for the unheard (for Bush) hour of 9:05 p.m. In another departure from the president's usual pattern, the meeting is after dinner, not before. White House officials say the schedule was set at the king's request.

"You know, this is a matter of great sensitivity," a senior administration official said with a smile.

U.S. President George W. Bush is shown a falcon owned by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
SLIDESHOW:  Bush's Middle East trip

National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley was asked if it was the latest meeting Bush has ever scheduled.

"I don't know," he said. "It sort of depends on which time zone – are we on Washington time? Are we on Saudi time? I don't know."

Scheduling official meetings late in the day is an Arab custom – the tradition stems from the fact that is so hot during the day for most of the year.  Monday’s meeting with the Saudi king will be the latest night during Bush’s eight-day Mideast trip which has included stops in Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

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What's he doing over there? Trying to strong arm people into letting him build a military base in Iraq, or getting them on board with invading Iran? Anything to push our agenda right in their faces.

Susan, New York (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 1:09 PM)

No problem.  Just have W shoot a Red Bull and he should be good to go.

Mike, Boston (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 1:34 PM)

So nice to see that W will adapt his schedule for the leader of the country that supplied 14 of the 19 hijackers and Osama. He's even given that hallmark of tolerance (a place where women can't drive and infidels are persucuted) billions of dollars of sophisticated weaponry. Maybe they'll even hold hands again. For all of you who voted for Bush, I'm sure this is a proud moment.

Johnny m, Denver CO (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 1:37 PM)

Thankfully for the President, he is soon to be the former President, and will be ably to lay his lazy head down any time he wants to.  Good to know that he is willing to stay up to stroke the bellys of his family's business interests though.  At least his priorities are straight.

Tim Frend (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 1:49 PM)

I'm sick of everything "BUSH" - If Clinton was the first "black President.  Then Bush was the first Saudi President.  He killed everything Reagan accomplished for the Republican part and America in general.  All for the love of money and oil.....Sad.

Sick of Bush (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 2:24 PM)

WHO CARES!!! Stop covering fluff! Cover the issues. There's enough critical issues here, like how these Arab allies don't really like Bush's belligerent rhetoric, but are too chicken to tell him so. And in a dictatorship, people don't take to the streets to protest their country's errant policies.

Irwin, Thousand Oaks, CA (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 2:46 PM)

Does this even deserve a comment? Seven years into a presidency it makes news that the man is scheduling work after 9PM. I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

Mr. Third Shift (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 2:50 PM)

I'm not sure I agree with the "saudi" president comment. I'm also not so sure I agree that the Arab allies are scared. In general the Arab people are easy going non-confrontational people. Don't mistake their temperment as weakness.

Expatriate Bob Jubail Industrial City Saudi Arabia (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:15 PM)

I heard he is giving $60 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia to make sure they're on his side when he has Iran attacked.  Bribery at its best.  Of course it's our tax money that's paying for all of the weapons.

I heard the widdle fellows bedtime was 9 p.m.  A real hard worker, he is!  haha

Kristen, Seattle, Washington (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:20 PM)

With these comments I have read so far here, I have to wonder how in the world Bush ever got re-elected, or even elected in the first place.....OH YEAH......I remember the whole thing now....He will, when he leaves office, (Not SOON enough) be called the "DANGLING CHAD PRESIDENT"....as a matter of fact he will be the first president that everyone pretty much knows got away with stealing two elections....what a proud legacy for him?????  YIPPEE-KEYE-YAY!!!  He can dream about those good old days when DIEBOLD and his brother, Jeb, scammed millions of old people in Florida, and then proceeded to do the same to millions of regular people in Ohio, in order to steal votes just barely making him a "winner" in both races just so that Nixon's old guard could move in with a new "puppet president" whom they were able to manipulate for the last seven years....and counting...

Funny how he can still consider the Saudi people our friends when they supplied many of the bodies that killed thousands of people in the worst terrorist incident in American History aside from the Oklahoma City bombing....he is chummy with them while still forcing his own countrymen (Yes...those of us here in our own country the USA) to put up with the domestic Spy program known as the "Patriot Act"

NONE OF THE ABOVE (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:28 PM)

Maybe his strategery and grasp of the english language will be better....one can only hope.

No fan of the smirking monkey.... (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:33 PM)

I think the President's example of getting a good night's rest is excellent.  He is a hard worker and cares deeply for our nation.  I'm thankful for him and his leadership.

Iam tulsa (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:33 PM)

Come people, we pay billions for oil and Saudi pays billion for arms. That's the way it is until the Liberals wise up and allow us to develope our own untapped oil and gas fields.

Mark, Texas (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:41 PM)

Kristen, Seattle, Washington, BS, we don't give the Saudis foreign military aid.  If they're getting weapons, they're paying for them.

How can the peace movement consider itself moral when it lies all the time?

Hector (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:45 PM)

I don't get it! Why are the people on the left so mean spirited? You would think that with all the real problems we face that they could show some signs of civility. Anything the leader of the best country in the free world does is absolutely news worthy.

Terd Fergensen Raleigh, NC (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:48 PM)

Bush is a lapdog for the Saudis.Of course he does what they say.I can't see His hero Churchhill or Truman for that matter bowing to those people.

Mike, Mt Home Arkansas (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:51 PM)

With the credibility that our President has, I see this as a waste of money...OUR MONEY. The President has, in my opinion, ruined himself not only at home but across the globe. He garners little respect and therefore, little influence. The safest stance would be to stay within the home borders trying not to add to the harm that he has already brought upon the nation. Stay home and be very quiet for the remainder of the term. On January 20, 2009, we, as a nation, will try again.

Bill Bomar, Huntsville, AL (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:56 PM)

Not to say they're fantastic people, but the US of A has had its own terrorists in the past.  How about the shoe bomber, or the kids that shoot up schools (Columbine, anyone)?  I think a parallel can be drawn. Not a big fan of Bush, or for that matter Abdullah. But politics and money are the order of the day in the US, while in the Arab world, religion and money reign supreme.

Aaron L, Toronto, Canada (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:57 PM)

Tulsa,

You snuck that anagram by the moderator. Slick but slightly too sarcastic. ;\

jrv, Somerville, NJ (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 3:58 PM)

I wish the comments would show people's ages, because as a 27 year old I'm really disappointed that the people of our great nation still live in the past.  No matter if you are republican, democratic, left-winged, right-winged, purple, blue, etc. it at least shows a minute amount of humanity when any person from the USA goes to another country with a compassionate heart and not with the attitude of we have to kill them all and not give a damn about anyone but ourselves!  So for all you people out there who can't get over the past I suggest you start living for the future because if we don't there won't be a USA because other countries are going to finally get sick of us and do more than just run a couple of planes into some buildings.

Patriotism at it's finest (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:07 PM)

The positive impact here is that this shows the Jews in Israel that we are willing to be friends to the OTHER countries and ALL the peoples in the Middle East...

Jerry (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:10 PM)

How many of you work from 6 AM to after 9:30 PM?  If you do you can criticise the president.  If you don't, you have no opinion.  I am unaware of any president that worked around the clock.  You Bush phobic people are crazy.  After reading most of the posts above there is little doubt that none of you are elegible to critique anyone else's intelligence.  And no, the Saudi's are not being given weapons, they are buying them.  Apparently, the ability to read is not strong in some of you people.....

get a grip nutters (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:10 PM)

My goodness people, get over yourselves! You so hate the fact he won the election twice that you are beside yourself. By the way he isn't 'giving away' $60Billion worth of arms from the taxpayers pockets, he is selling to them for some badly needed foreign trade. Does anyone out there have a better idea? Clinton didn't.

cherokeesv@gmail.com (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:11 PM)

Saudi Arabia is our ally.  They always have been.  Why all of the anti-Saudi sentiment?  9-11 was probably planned by Israel anyway.

Bud Wiser - NY (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:11 PM)

Getting an early night's sleep is a virtue by the way, but I wonder what Dick Cheney and the real wheels of the Whitehouse are getting up to while the cat is sleeping.
Did you all read about the extent of the security measures that have been taken for this trip, incuding booking out a whole hotel in Israel and snipers on the roof? Not unheard of maybe, but indicative.
I am a New Zealander and fear ever going to the Middle East because there would be a free bounty on my head just for looking like a westerner!
The short-sighted and culturally ignorant activities of the current administration have continued to philosophically close off a wonderful part of the world to many of us who would only have wished to visit in peace and appreciation.

Duncan, Tustin, CA (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:20 PM)

If we can spend billions in the ME, couldn't we just fix the nation's roads, take care of health care for the working people, and maybe come up with a national backed effort to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in our cars !?  We need a LEADER not a politician who sees the important things for America and makes them REALLY happen.  

mike d, Fredericksburg, va (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:21 PM)

Atleast he is working on the affairs of State rather than his spending time in the oval office having personal affairs...

Julie V, New Jersey (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:30 PM)

maybe we can all sleep through the next 11 months so he'll be gone for good.  history will write him off as one of the worst, if not the worst, president this country has EVER had.  he's alienated most of the world and his tax cuts/out-of-control, spending-bill signing will be paid for by our kids and grandkids alike. his own party will pay the consequences in the fall, however.

Ivan White, Wilmington, NC (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:34 PM)

The first thing on this meeting's agenda should be the House of Saud using their billions of oil dollars giving work to their people so they have hope for the future.  Without hope of living, they join al-Qeada and hope for death.  If all of you that hate our President will understand that it is the hoarding of the oil dollars that have created this mess we are in.  We, the American people, give this money to the House of Saud, so we are responsible for what has happened on 9-11 and since.  
We need to have alternative fuel.  Elect the next president who will promise to get us an alternative fuel that will actually do something good for us as a nation.  The sooner oil becomes a non issue, the sooner we will have our country back.

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, WI (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:41 PM)

All of you "Bush haters" are so blind to the real world - the world in which radical minded people hate us, both for our freedoms and opportunities that our citizens have and for the speaking out against their opressive doctrines and policies in how they want to control their citizenry.
At least the President is meeting with Arab leaders in the region, maintaining some degree of dialogue on the issues of the region. Can the Prez be held accountable that every world leader he does meet with is not some clone of Washington-Jefferson-Madison in the way they rule their respective countries - no he can't. He has to take them as they are, and try to have dialogue that moves the issues in a positive way.

And why is it always -" he is over there protecting his oil interests"? What is SO WRONG with someone in America gaining a measure of wealth in any field, why is it that so many people see this as evil. In America, there is opportunity for anyone with the resolve, determination, ability, drive, or whatever to become successful in a field and derive a measure of profit. If you are so against this, then please move to the Communist/Socialist/3rd world dictatorship country of your choice, and quit railing against anyone whe takes advantage of the opportunities to succeed in America.  

Olsen - VA (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:50 PM)

The more Bush sleeps the less harm he does.

Ed, NYC (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:51 PM)

Obviously, John Kerry would be doing a much better job at staying up late.

Todd Budde (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 4:52 PM)

Bush has showed the Americans how easy it is for anyone in important positions can use corruption to do whatever they want in interest of money.  Inflation is higher, gas, oil, electricity, even the food.  Ironically he said he wouldn't tolorate any corporation or business to use 9-11 as an opening for these corruptions to take place, calling them in fact a terrorist act. Guess nobody got the memo.  Thanks Bossman!!!

Herold Reavill, Granite City, IL (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:01 PM)

I am sure that the comment above from ' iam tulsa' is a joke, where have you been!!

vancouver, (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:02 PM)

I don't think Bush stole the elections at all, you people voted for him. Twice. Yes, unbelievable. Don't blame Bush, blame yourselves.

Marc Alexander (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:03 PM)

Thank god we have had Bush as our President!!!  4 more years of Bush would be awesome. We won't be safe if a Democrat is President that is for sure!!!!

Todd, Portland, OR (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:03 PM)

I know I'm up at 6am and to bed well after midnight every night with 2 jobs and a family. Have a nice pile of bills I can't pay to show for it.  Thanks for staying up late for us Mr. President.

Night Owl, Houston, TX (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:10 PM)

When Bush goes it alone people are critical, when he is diplomatic, people are critical.  I've long believed that if he were to emerge from the White House wearing a lab coat carrying a cure for cancer some one would have a problem with it.  He's doing a tour of the middle east to reassure the leaders of the different Middle Eastern nations that if they feel threatened by Iran that they have a friend and ally in the United States.  It's harder for some one to be bullied if they don't feel like their standing alone.  As for Saudi Arabia they would be buying $80,000,000, we're not giving it to them.  They feel they need to update their military, and they'll either be buying from us, or China and Russia.  They have enough money to buy what they want where they want, it's up to us if they want to think of us as an ally or not.  

That's current events.  Ancient history?  If for no other reason Bush was elected twice because he didn't face compelling opposition.  Unimpressive candidates, with even less impressive campaigns.  The more people call Bush an idiot the more they insult the Democrat nominees that ran against him.  Losing is bad, losing to a supposed idiot has be worse.

Michael McCarthy Nashua NH (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:12 PM)

What a bunch of whinners.  For those of you who don't like Bush as president, maybe you should have gotten more people out to vote against him in those two elections he "stole".  Then you would have nothing to complain about.

Chris Edwards, Jacksonville, FL (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:17 PM)

Someone mentioned that under a tyrant, people are not allowed to protest an election. Our rights in America have been slowly eroded, (and especially those for women), by the republican party. We should be looking at the people of Kenya as a model - of sorts - for standing up for their rights. What do we do here? File a petition to stage a protest that either gets denied, or is approved providing that the protest occurs blocks or even miles away. Where were we 7 years ago? If Bush had a golf bag, there would be an arms dealer's logo on one side and an oil company's logo on the other.

Robert, Alhambra, Ca. (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:23 PM)

Dear Mr.Yang, When visiting a foreign country I think one has to adjust to the people and the time zone. I liked the comment by First Lady Laura Bush about the need for President Bush to stay up later if he wants to end tyranny in the world. I viewed the photographs in the slide show and some of the places President Bush visited were very interesting and spiritual. With regards to meeting with the leaders of these Middle East countries I think President Bush just has to adjust to the way these leaders want to do business and meet on their terms. I can understand why they may not want to meet during the day because of the high heat and in the evening is better. Anyway, I have enjoyed the postings Mr.Yang of the President's visit to the Middle East. May peace befall that region soon. Peace to all!  

Lisa McNeil,Alpharetta,Georgia (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:33 PM)

This man has no regard for the American people.  He never has and never will.  When we look at the history of our country and men like George Washington, the first really great president of our country, George Bush is a sorry excuse for this position.  He is the great impersonator.  Why are we surprised by what has happened?  Take a look at his history in business, failures all, and then look at the company he keeps?  He is known by who he associates with, and people around him are all the least moral and honest of any that this country has ever known.  We all hold responsibility for this man continuing in office, when he should be ousted and sent permanently to Saudi Arabia.  

God help us (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:45 PM)

Thank God for "W".  I can only feel real fear had we elected the other guy.  What was his name again.  Didn't impress anyone I guess!

Gary Johnson, Scottsdale, AZ. (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 5:48 PM)

All is well that ends well? So I thought!President Bush has turned a once great nation into a 3rd rate nation. And he has problems with Chavez?? It must be he can't get his oil hands on the oil valve for Haliburton.Be good to see him go, where I wonder??

Ed Cep (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 6:22 PM)

Thank you Tulsa, I agree. I think his routine beats the heck out of other presidents that have stayed up late and had "little ladies" taking care of their business interests under their desk.  If anyone thinks that any of the current candidates will treat the Saudi King or any other Middle East dignitary any differently -- Please go to bed-- you are dreaming!!!

Get Real! (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 6:35 PM)

Perhaps he will be a special envoy after his term is over.

Victoria, Colorado Springs, CO (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 6:38 PM)

While I hate Bush as much as the next guy (sad to say), I wouldn't hate on having the Saudis as an ally simply because some of the Sept. 11th, 2001 hijackers came from there. 11 people don't represent their country, just as the US soldiers that killed Saudi women and children after storming their houses don't represent you or me. Besides, it's that jingoist anti-Arab mindset that put Bush in office for two straight terms anyway (it's not like we haven't killed innocents in Iraq). Clear your head and get rid of this war mentality.

Tones, Orange, CA (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 6:50 PM)

One thing is certain.  Former President Clinton didn't go to bed at 9:00 PM nor was he working.  He was entertaining himself and his intern.  All you folks blasting our president have a short memory!

Dennis Nielsen (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 6:57 PM)

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise".
- old saying

Jane Doe, California (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 7:08 PM)

"I'm not sure I agree with the "saudi" president comment. I'm also not so sure I agree that the Arab allies are scared. In general the Arab people are easy going non-confrontational people. Don't mistake their temperment as weakness. "

To be honest, the average American doesn't even care.  The only reason the Saudi's were even mentioned is because Bush was there, and everyone loves to make fun of Bush.  For the most part, no one in America cares enough about Saudi Arabia to wonder how their people and arab allies are.  

Chuck Las Vegas, NV (Sent Monday, January 14, 2008 7:16 PM)



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