FOREIGN POLICY/ISRAEL/POPE FRANCIS/SAUDI ARABIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month, the White House announced on Thursday [5-4-17], making the two countries his first foreign destinations since taking office, as he seeks to intensify the war against the Islamic State, rally the region against Iran and negotiate Middle East peace.
Mr. Trump will also visit Rome to meet Pope Francis, completing a tour of the centers of the three major monotheistic religions in what aides said was an effort to seek unity against common enemies. The stops were added to the front of a previously scheduled trip to Brussels and Sicily for back-to-back summit meetings held by NATO and the Group of 7 economic powers.
‘Tolerance is the cornerstone of peace,’ Mr. Trump said a ceremony at the White House. ‘That is why I am proud to make a major and historic announcement this morning and share with you that my first foreign trip as president of the United States will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, and then to a place that my cardinals love very much, Rome.’ “
-Peter Baker, “Saudi Arabia and Israel Will Be on Itinerary of Trump’s First Foreign Trip,” The New York Times online, May 4, 2017