President Trump and First Lady Melania escape DC scandalfest for nine-day foreign tour - the first since they entered the White House - with Jared and Ivanka in tow. Next stop, Saudi Arabia
- President, the first lady Melania Trump, Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner, and Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern
- Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and lifted off in Air Force One
- They are making their way to Saudi Arabia on the first leg of their nine-day trip
- Trump will visit Israel, Rome, Vatican City, Belgium and Sicily before he returns
- Trip includes stops honoring Islam, Judaism and Christianity before Trump attends the NATO and G7 summits
- Trump will have an audience with Pope Francis and coffee with the Saudi king
- Mid-East peace meetings scheduled with both Netanyahu and Abbas
- 'Will be strongly protecting American interests - that's what I like to do!' Trump said in a Friday morning tweet that preceded his departure
President Donald Trump has departed on a five-stop diplomacy tour through Europe and the Middle East that will cover 15,600 miles in the air over the course of nine days.
The president, the first lady Melania Trump, Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner, and Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern.
Fifteen minutes later, the group arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The first couple stopped and waved as they boarded Air Force One. They are currently on a 12-hour flight to Saudi Arabia.
The last four U.S. presidents kept their first international voyages confined to North America. Not so for Trump.
He will deliver a high-stakes speech about Islam in the heart of Saudi Arabia, meet with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nemesis Mahmoud Abbas and take in an audience with Pope Francis.
And that's before a NATO summit and a meeting of the G7 leaders.
Trump said Friday, after a quiet morning at the White House he was 'getting ready for my big foreign trip.'
'Will be strongly protecting American interests - that's what I like to do!' he said.
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President Donald Trump has departed on a five-stop diplomacy tour through Europe and the Middle East that will cover 15,600 miles in the air over the course of nine days
He and First Lady Melania Trump are seen boarding Air Force One on Friday afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are also on the nine day trip that has its first stop in Saudi Arabia
Windblown: It wasn't revealed that Ivanka would be traveling with her husband and father until the last minute
The president, the first lady, Chief of staff Reince Priebus, Jared Kushner, and Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern
Vice President Mike Pence (right) was on hand to see President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump off
The president waves goodbye, hopefully to leave the turmoil of the last week behind as he leaves for his first foreign trip
Tête-à-tête: The President and Vice President share some last words as Pence gets set to say farewell to the departing leader
MAKE SURE IT'S STILL HERE WHEN I GET BACK: Trump heads to the Middle East and Europe under a cloud of suspicion over his firing of firing of FBI Director James Comey, who he reportedly tried to influence
I'M COUNTING ON YOU, MIKE: Pence will hold down the White House while Trump is gone on his nine-day overseas trip
Ring a ding ding: The First Lady's diamond engagement ring is front and center as she recahes to embrace the vice president
Moving in for the smooch. Melania is clearly very fond of the Vice President!
ONE FOR THE ROAD: Vice President Mike Pence gives First Lady Melania Trump a kiss on the cheek as she prepares to depart for Joint Base Andrews with her husband
TA TA FOR NOW: The president and first lady pose for pictures as they walk to Marine One on the South Lawn
President Donald Trump said Friday, after a quiet morning at the White House he was 'getting ready for my big foreign trip'
The last four presidents confirmed their first trips abroad to Canada and Mexico, but Trump is going big before going home
The chaos-courting leader of the free world is meeting his crucial first test abroad while facing a chain-reaction scandal of his own making, which exploded when he fired his FBI director last week.
Now, with the eyes of the world upon him, the president will embark on his big trip carrying the baggage of dire troubles at home. As he tries to calm allies worried about his 'America First' message, he'll be followed at every step by news the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaign's alleged ties with Russia.
'Welcome to the White House abroad,' said Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush's former press secretary. 'This is a great opportunity for the president to change the subject, to make real news. But the downside is that it could be dominated by domestic-style questions. ... Every first trip is over-scrutinized. The whole world is watching.'
'There has never been a president taking his first international trip being dogged by scandal like this,' said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
'He's already a president viewed skeptically by much of the world. And while the pictures from the trip may be great, the White House can't change the headlines that will follow him wherever he goes.'
Trump's itinerary is heavy with religious symbolism. He'll visit the birthplace of Islam, the Jewish homeland and the Vatican. Officials say the message is 'unity.'
'He strongly believes that it is the strength of the faith of people in these religions that will stand up and ultimately be victorious over ... forces of terrorism,' Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.
The president, the first lady Melania Trump and Vice President Pence left the White House aboard Marine One just before 2pm Eastern
ARE YOU READY? The first couple will spend 12 hours in the air on their overnight flight to Saudi Arabia
HAND IN HAND: Jared and Ivanka, both of whom are senior advisors to the president, are traveling on Air Force One, too
It looks like Jared and Ivanka left there three children behind to escort the president on his nine-day trip
With the eyes of the world upon him, the president will embark on his big trip carrying the baggage of dire troubles at home
Trump will have an audience with Pope Francis and coffee with the Saudi king. Mid-East peace meetings are scheduled with both Netanyahu and Abbas
'Will be strongly protecting American interests - that's what I like to do!' Trump said in a Friday morning tweet that preceded his departure
IN: Reince Priebus, the president's chief of staff (second from right) and Keith Schiller, the president's personal security guard (far right); OUT: Vice President Mike Pence and Counselor Kellyanne Conway (far left)
The Saudi government is playing up the Trump visit, hinting at cooperation with the U.S. to fight Islamic radicalism in the region
United States flag is seen as royal guard patrols the hotel where US President Donald Trump will stay in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday
In Saudi Arabia, the president – whose campaign was marked by heated anti-Muslim rhetoric and whose administration has tried to enact a travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries – will deliver a speech to the Islamic world meant to be a clear contrast with the vision Obama laid out in his first trip to the region.
In Israel, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, looking to smooth over fresh tensions. Israel was in an uproar earlier this week after U.S. officials confirmed Trump shared highly classified intelligence about the Islamic State group with senior Russian officials visiting the White House.
The information, about an ISIS threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft, came from Israel and there were concerns a valuable Israeli asset could be in danger, a U.S. official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive material.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster added to the alarm by refusing to declare the Western Wall a part of Israel. U.S. policy holds that ownership of the holiest site where Jews can pray, as with the rest of Jerusalem, is subject to Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.
In Rome, the president will call upon Pope Francis, the popular, liberal-minded pontiff. Trump denounced Francis during the campaign, calling the holiest man in the Catholic faith 'disgraceful' for questioning his faith.
Trump will meet with his old friend Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel ...
In Brussels, Trump will attend a meeting of NATO, the World War II-era alliance which Trump has repeatedly mused about abandoning because member states weren't paying their fair share. He recently has shifted to reassure wary allies that he remains committed to the pact.
And in Sicily, the president will meet with the other leaders of the G7, a gathering of Western economic powers. Key parts of the group are unsettled by Trump's unpredictability and his willingness to cheer on nationalist sentiment.
Trump's trip was always going to be dramatic. U.S. allies have been rattled by his warnings about pulling back from the world. He is tasked with urging a united front against terror by appealing to some of the same corners of the Muslim world he has tried to keep out of the United States with his travel ban. Last week, he added new layers of complication by disclosing classified intelligence to a longtime adversary.
Still, the White House once hoped the trip, wrapped in the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic protocol, could offer a chance at a reset after a tumultuous first four months in office.
Trump's advisers saw it as an opportunity for the United States to boldly reassert itself on the world stage and resume a leadership role that the administration believes was abdicated by President Barack Obama.
... and also pay a visit to Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority
The U.S. Secret Service won't allow Trump to travel on a dangling cable car to the old Masada fortress in the Judean desert, so he has been forced to skip that part of his planned itinerary
Pope Frances feuded with Trump last year, questioning his Christianity – and drawing a retort form the future president that he was 'disgraceful' – but the two men will meet at the Vatican
After the Pontiff questioned Trump's Christianity over his promise to wall off Mexico from the United States, the then-presidnetial candidate fired off a vicious reply on Facebook
Trump's powerful senior adviser, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, led a West Wing team to craft the agenda, laden with religious symbolism.
But Trump hasn't been eager to seize the opportunity. It's been more than a half-century since any president waited as long to take his first foreign trip. The itinerary is a startlingly ambitious excursion for a president who dislikes travel and has displayed a shaky grasp of foreign affairs.
Administration officials believe the unexpected move of going to Saudi Arabia first was meant to underscore the seriousness of the United States' commitment to fighting extremist groups like the Islamic State. Trump, whose denunciations of Iran have been welcomed by the Saudis, wants to frame the conflict not as one between the West and Islam, but simply between good and evil, according to his aides.
While some Middle East leaders will likely greet Trump warmly, he could receive a far cooler reception in Europe.
Though Pope Francis has said he'd 'never make a judgment about a person without hearing him out,' others on the continent have sharply criticized Trump. That includes France's newly elected President Emmanuel Macron, who denounced Trump's musings on abandoning the Paris climate treaty, a likely point of contention in Sicily.
Trump's inauguration sparked thousands of protesters to fill the streets of several European capitals, chaotic scenes that could be repeated during his stops in Rome, Brussels and Sicily.
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