Gulf monarchies are not immune to the global rise in populist movements, despite their wealth and generous welfare systems. The adoption of austerity measures alongside the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of political and business elites is fueling a populist response, visible on social media and in Gulf parliaments. To counter these challenges and to advance their own ruling agendas, ruling family-led governments have adopted different tactics, including suppression, cooptation, and the adoption of populist rhetoric. This paper will analyze the Saudi government's strategy of adopting populist rhetoric, and to some degree populist policies, as a means to insulate the leadership from populist backlash. This state rhetoric deploys all the characteristics of populist discourse, weaving together: 1) praise for the people as inherently virtuous and dutiful or disadvantaged; 2) a powerful dose of opposition to the establishment; and 3) a direct appeal to nationalistic or native pride. This rhetorical strategy has enabled the mobilization of popular support to take on entrenched state functionaries and to condemn political rivals. And perhaps most surprisingly, it has taken on a distinct anti-Islamist zeal in defiance of standing and previously state-enforced norms. Theoretically, this paper will aim to situate this case study within the broader populist literature as a revealing example of "populism from above," working through specific topics - anti-corruption campaigns/regime consolidation; gender/women's empowerment; nativism/foreign workers - to understand its inherent contradictions. It will draw upon primary sources in state-affiliated media, political speeches, and state policies. Select bibliography Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristobal, Paul A. Taggart, Paulina Ochoa Espejo, and Pierre Ostiguy, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Populism (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017). B. Moffitt, The Global Rise of Populism: Performance, Political Style, and Representation (Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press, 2016.) Valentine Moghadam and Gizem Kaftam, "Right-wing Populisms North and South: Varieties and Gender Dynamics," Women Studies International Forum, Vol. 75 (July-August 2019). Gilbert Ramsay and Sumayah Fatani, “The New Saudi Nationalism of the New Saudi Media,” in Mellor and Rinnawi, eds, Political Islam and Global Media: The Boundaries of Religious Identity (New York: Routledge, 2016): 187-203.