President Barack Obama headed a large, bipartisan US delegation to Saudi Arabia following the death of King Abdullah.

He cut short a trip to India appearing with their President Pranab Mukherjee for India’s Republic Day parade, during which he will meet the new ruler King Salman. Arriving on Air Force One, he and Michelle Obama exited the plane she, wearing a sari and he in a simple Ghandi style cloth drape,

in solidarity with the Indian people. “I am an Indian” he loudly proclaimed, “That should confuse those birthers once and for all” he said under his breath. Chuckling loudly, they quickly ducked back into the plane after photographs were taken.

He is being accompanied by prominent Republican officials, including Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In an interview with CNN before he left India, Mr Obama suggested he would be unlikely to raise the case of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison last May for “Thinking out loud in a manner that could possibly affect the thoughts of others” and “Disobeying the rules of citizenship of Saudi Arabia by thinking about voting”

In Saudi Arabia, Obama, in a magnanimous gesture and rare moment of ‘openness’ with the new King, offered to leave McConnell and Boehner in Saudi Arabia in return for the Saudi blogger.

He said, “We’ve done prisoner exchanges before and it’s worked out well. Maybe you could just hold these two until after the 2016 election.” To an aide, he said, “I’ll teach them to invite Netanyahu and not tell me.”

Boehner, when told he may have to stay for an extended period of time in the sun baked country, put a positive spin on the news, said, “Mitch will probably just dry out, but I can do some work on my tan. George Hamilton, eat your heart out!”