"President Trump has also accepted the invitation of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority to meet with him to discuss ways to advance peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, as well as efforts to unlock the potential of the Palestinian economy".
One commentator told Saudi state television that the USA president 'will provide a security blanket for Washington's allies in the region'.
National security advisor General H.R. McMaster said the trip would allow Trump to demonstrate that "America First (policy) is fully compatible with American leadership in the world".
In a briefing for reporters just after the ceremony, a senior aide to Trump said the thrust of the tour, which will precede an already-announced visit to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters in Brussels, is to unite the three world's nations and faiths against terrorism.
After his trip to Israel, Trump will hop on over to Rome and Vatican City to meet Pope Francis, rounding out what in the end will resemble a tour of the Abrahamic religions.
The president, who campaigned on an "America First" platform, has avoided travel overseas in his first months in office.
Before returning to Italy for that meeting of world leaders, Trump will stop in Brussels for a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit and also meet with European Union heads of government. Former President Barack Obama had already made three foreign trips by the same point in his first term, visiting nine countries.
'Huge' explosion near Damascus Airport rocks Syrian capital
In Israel, Minister of Intelligence and Transportation Israel Katz declined to say whether his country carried out the strike. As well as weapons, hundreds of Shi'ite militia fighters from Iraq and Iran have been flown to Damascus worldwide airport.
While campaigning in February 2016 to become the Republican Party's nominee for the White House, Trump and the pontiff had a heated and extraordinary exchange through the media.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited Trump to visit during a phone conversation soon after Trump was elected in November.
Trump said in an interview last week that Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and that Washington was losing a "tremendous amount of money" defending the kingdom.
"One of the biggest problems that we face in the world today is radical extremism and one thing about the president is that he doesn't think about the short-term, he thinks 'How can we come up with a long-term solution?' So we thought that was an important place to start", an official said. "It is there we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries".
Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience on Wednesday mornings, and senior Vatican sources said the meeting with the president will be squeezed in before. The stops reaffirmed what have traditionally been close cross-border ties in North America - relationships that have grown tense under Trump amid trade disagreements and a dispute over his proposed border wall with Mexico.
A United States official, who declined to be named, told Reuters part of the rationale for the trip was reversing the image that Trump was anti-Muslim.
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