Tabnak – In his first foreign trip since becoming the president of the United States, Donald Trump will visit Israel (occupied Palestine), the Vatican and Saudi Arabia. In addition to the US ties with the Israelis, reports of Trump’s plans to sell billions of arms to Saudi Arabia has doubled the importance of his trip.
Associated Press says in a report that Donald Trump's first foreign trip will include stops in Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia before visits to a NATO meeting in Belgium and a Group of 7 summit in Italy.
Trump is expected to take his first overseas trip as president later this month with the multi-stop tour, two White House officials said. The announcement followed Trump's meeting Wednesday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Trump's vows to mediate peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump also met with Catholic cardinals earlier Thursday ahead of his trip to the Vatican.
At the same time, senior White House officials told the Independent that the purpose of the visit is to fight radicalization in the area, while furthering US trade and development interests. Trump’s first stop will be Saudi Arabia, according to the media.
Trump hosted Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March, at which time the crown prince called Trump as a "true friend of Muslims.” Trump has accused Saudi Arabia of not treating the US "fairly” in the fight against ISIS.
However, a report published by Reuters earlier today indicates that the US is trying to push through multi-billion dollar arms sales contracts with Saudi Arabia before Trump's forthcoming kingdom visit.
More than $1bn worth of munitions including armor-piercing Penetrator Warheads and Paveway laser-guided bombs made by Raytheon are among the contracts being negotiated, said Reuters. The Obama administration had suspended the planned Raytheon sale because of concerns over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
A US administration official said the proposed Raytheon sale was still under review, while other officials said it was US policy not to comment on proposed American defense sales until Congress had been formally told.
About Trump’s visit to Israel, the Times of Israel reports that a US presidential delegation will return to Israel next week to finalize the itinerary of the US President.
The delegation was in the occupied Palestine this past week to scout out stops during the expected trip. The members of the preparatory team held meetings at the Foreign Ministry and visited some other places.
During the trip, Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. A White House statement on Thursday said the visit to Israel was aimed at "further strengthening the United States-Israel partnership.”
All in all, it seems that in his first trip abroad, Trump will try to restore – and even strengthen – the traditional US alliances in the region. The exact to which Trump becomes successful in this way, could largely define the future path of his foreign policy in general and especially his Middle East policy.
