Saudi Arabia Lifts Travel Ban on US Citizen Detained Over Critical Social Media Posts

Nov 20, 2025 08:08 am CST

Saudi Arabia has lifted a travel ban on Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a US citizen who was previously imprisoned for critical tweets about the kingdom. Almadi, detained in 2021 for posts mentioning corruption and Jamal Khashoggi's murder, was initially sentenced to 16 years but released last year while remaining under travel restrictions. His freedom comes as President Trump welcomes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the United States.