Saudis gave gadget that briefly captivated the internet to the US – but embassy officials fearful of scandal soon hid it away

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

The mysterious glowing orb which Donald Trump, King Salman and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi clutched in Riyadh in May 2017 is now in US possession, according to a new book – but is hidden away for fear of causing a scandal.

The bizarre factoid is contained in MBS, a new book by the New York Times correspondent Ben Hubbard about the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, which will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.

'One orb to rule them all': image of Donald Trump and glowing globe perplexes internet Read more

Hubbard recounts the crown prince’s rise to power and his ruthless suppression of rivals; his direction of Saudi foreign policy including the war in Yemen; and his links to the October 2018 murder in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and regime critic who lived in the US and worked for the Washington Post.

The author also details apparent Saudi attempts to hack his phone, an experience which the Guardian recently revealed he allegedly shares with Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the richest man in the world.

But in his examination of the development of Prince Mohammed’s close and controversial relationship with the Trump administration, Hubbard also reveals the fate of the memorable orb, which Trump encountered on his first overseas trip as president.

Local media reported that when the presidents of the US and Egypt and the Saudi monarch caressed the pulsing sphere, it “officially activated” the Saudis’ new Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology “and launched a splashy welcome video”.

The internet had other ideas, of course, and images of the bizarre ceremony paired with scenes from The Lord of the Rings, Star Trek and Star Wars spread rapidly online, to general if predictably short-lived hilarity.

Hubbard reveals that after Trump went home, “an unusual accessory showed up in a hallway at the US embassy in Riyadh: one orb, slightly used”.

The Saudis, he writes, had noticed US visitors to their Centre gleefully taking pictures with the orb, so they decided to give it to their American guests.

Alas, the orb’s fate matched that of many who come into contact with Trump: after shining brightly for a brief but brilliant moment, it was consigned to the chilliest outer darkness.

“It sat in a hallway for a number of days, where diplomats passing by would pose for photos,” Hubbard writes. But then “someone apparently worried that the photos would make their way online and cause a scandal, so the orb was hidden away in embassy storage”.

Hubbard does not report that the orb now lies, like the Ark of the Covenant in the Indiana Jones movie, in a forgotten crate deep in some vast government warehouse, glowing with a faint but ominous pulse.

The Guardian prefers to believe that it does.