BBC: "You'll have to forgive me if I seem a little distracted," said the Saudi ambassador to the UK as his eyes flicked towards his mobile phone. "I'm keeping an eye on the results coming in from Wisconsin."
That was eight days ago, when we still did not know who would be in the White House in January.
When Joe Biden was declared the winner, the Saudi leadership in Riyadh took rather longer to respond than they did when Donald Trump was elected.
This is hardly surprising: they had just lost a friend at the top table.
Mr Biden's victory could now have far-reaching consequences for Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Arab states.
The US strategic partnership with the region goes back to 1945 and it will likely endure, but changes are coming and they will not all be welcome in Gulf capitals. » | Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent | Thursday, November 12, 2020
