U.S. President Donald Trump Journeys to Middle East: A Look at Countries Visited by American Leaders

Rewritten Article:

Donald Trump sets foot in Saudi Arabia once again for his second official state visit, following his brief visits to Italy and the Vatican for Pope Francis's funeral.

Stepping onto Saudi soil on Tuesday before 10am local time (07:00 GMT), Trump was met by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Additional Reading

The US president's itinerary for the year 2025 includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from May 13 to 16.

Which nations did Trump visit during his first presidential term?

Trump journeyed to a total of 25 countries during his first term from January 2017 to January 2021.

The countries Trump frequented the most during his initial term include:

France - Four times
Japan, United Kingdom - Three times
Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Switzerland, Vietnam - Twice
Afghanistan, Argentina, Canada, China, Finland, India, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Vatican City - Once

In the infographic below, the sequence of his trips is outlined.

Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to make the Middle East his first foreign destination, visiting Saudi Arabia on May 20-21, 2017.

After greeting the Saudi King and the then-Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Trump sealed a staggering $110bn arms deal.

Trump participated in the Riyadh Summit, a gathering of leaders from more than 50 Muslim-majority nations.

Following his stay in Saudi Arabia, Trump headed to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem. He then engaged with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Trump's trip to India on February 24-25, 2020, was his last international expedition before the COVID-19 pandemic enforced global travel restrictions.

The inaugural destination of each U.S. President

A U.S. president's initial trip is often considered a reflection of their foreign policy priorities and direction, establishing the tone for their administration's engagement with the world.

Theodore Roosevelt made history in 1906 as the first sitting U.S. president to travel abroad, visiting Panama to monitor the construction of the Panama Canal, a crucial project for U.S. trade and military strategies.

More recently, in 1993, Bill Clinton's first trip was to Canada, paving the way for NAFTA. In 2001, George W Bush journeyed to Mexico, focusing on trade and immigration. Barack Obama's first journey in 2009 was to Canada, underscoring the importance of multilateral diplomacy. Joe Biden's first trip in 2021 was to the UK, emphasizing traditional alliances and the fight against climate change.

The graphic below illustrates the first country visited by each U.S. president.

Number of first presidential trips:

Canada - 5 (Kennedy, Johnson, HW Bush, Clinton, Obama)
UK - 4 (Wilson, FDR, Carter, Biden)
Panama - 3 (T Roosevelt, Taft, Harding)
Mexico - 3 (Ford, Reagan, Bush)
Belgium - 2 (Truman, Nixon)
Saudi Arabia - 2 (Trump, his first and second terms)
Cuba - 1 (Coolidge)
Honduras - 1 (Hoover)
South Korea - 1 (Eisenhower)

All U.S. presidential trips abroad (1906-2024)

The table below provides a rundown of the more than 800 presidential trips made by 21 of the U.S.'s most recent presidents, starting with Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

The countries visited the most often include:

UK (69 times)
France (51 times)
Canada (41 times)
Mexico (35 times)
Italy (33 times)

The countries visited by the most U.S. presidents include:

Italy (15 presidents)
Mexico (15 presidents)
UK (15 presidents)
France (14 presidents)
Vatican City (14 presidents)

Search for any country using the search box below.

Donald Trump's second state visit in 2025 will take him to Saudi Arabia, one of the nations he visited during his first term as president.
During his first term, Trump also visited France, a country he frequented more times than any other nation after Saudi Arabia.
In the realm of international diplomacy, economic agreements are not limited to arms deals; President Joe Biden's first trip in 2021 was to the UK, focusing on traditional alliances and the fight against climate change.