[drpix]

That (as you say) Obama may be flirting with the "more radical Islamist" ^* does not mean he would confront the King in "a heated debate." It's would be Obama's style to weasel around behind the King's back while the King is still in power and holds so many cards on Obama.

[ ^* While the Wahabism promoted & financed around the world by the Saudi Crown is as radical a form of Islam as you can get (i.e. it shares the same world caliphate goals as those "more radical Islamist" groups) the timetable of the Saudi Crown's Wahabism is too slow for those "more radical Islamist" groups.

[livius]

It's would be Obama's style to weasel around behind the King's back while the King is still in power and holds so many cards on Obama.

That's true. Maybe Bambi's feeling empowered, however; when he feels he's got a winning hand, he's very arrogant and rude.

As you say, it's not like him to argue issues. Maybe he just said to the Saudi King, "I won."