Trump will later this year tour the capitals of three major world religions; the trip will be an intersection of politics, faith and national security.
The White House has announced the President’s planned trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican. Trump has previously avoided major travel outside of Washington. He has spent most of his time as president in the White House and at his private estate in Florida, but in what seems like a drift from his usual style since assuming office, President Trump's trip to the Middle East in late May would make him the most travelled president within the first three months in office.
Trump's first visit
After ending his three nation’s trip, he will be heading to Brussels and Sicily to attend NATO and G-7 meetings respectively. The White House made the announcement earlier this year.
The trips, according to Trump’s aides, are designed to symbolize US commitments to allies, whom the Trump administration believes will re-ignite their moves to fighting radicalism and religious intolerance around the world.
The trip is also aimed at demonstrating a paradigm shift of American foreign policy. President Trump described the trip as a major and a historic announcement during a Rose Garden ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer.
What the president aims to achieve
Analysts believe that Trump’s choice of the Vatican, Israel, and Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip since becoming president is an avenue for the president to demonstrate some degree of unity and ecumenism, and also to be where he would be guaranteed a high level of symbolism as his first official visit.
Perception in the Muslim world
The Saudi Arabia visit is to dispel the perception in many quarters that Trump is an anti-Muslim president. This was made known by a person close to the president that helped plan the trip.
The Islamic world view Trump as anti-Muslim following the President’s executive order banning entry to citizens of six predominantly Muslim nations and his vow during the campaign for the presidential election to ban all Muslim entry into the US.
“We are of the belief that this is an important step to douse the perception of many about the president, but I also think that what he aims to achieve is to solve the very problems that a lot of the Islamic leaders around the world plan to do,” a senior administration official said. This was reported by CNN.
During his first trip to the Middle East in 2009, President Barack Obama skipped a visit to Israel. This marked the beginning of a frosty relationship with Israel during his tenure in office.
