To Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican

President Trump will travel to the seats of the world's three major monotheistic faiths on his first foreign trip, the White House announced Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

Trump's decision to make Saudi Arabia his first destination will reinforce a relationship with a top ally in the Middle East, where the United States is leading a coalition against Islamic State and seeking to counter Iranian influence.

He said they will seek new cooperation to "combat extremism, terrorism and violence" and promote a more hopeful future for young Muslims.

However, it remains unclear from the statement whether Trump will meet Abbas in the West Bank.

For weeks, people wondered why they hadn't done the basic block-and-tackle work of setting a meeting between Donald Trump and Pope Francis, even after getting friendly signals from the Vatican.

The trip is meant to show that Trump's "America First" motto is "fully compatible with American leadership in the world", another official said.

The official said that while "conventional wisdom" would tell you that Trump is "weak on alliances", the president is in fact "strong on alliance", provided allies pay their fair share toward defense.

Trump visit's announcement came as Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Gholamali Khoshroo, bluntly refuted what he described as "arbitrary and provocative" pronouncements by the Deputy Crown Prince and Second Deputy Prime Minister.

Trump's stops in Riyadh, Jerusalem, Rome, Brussels and Sicily are not set to be long - in some cases, he expects to spend only a night, according to officials who are planning the trip. Trump can leverage both into pushing for enough concessions to get talks restarted, while also giving Netanyahu assurances that his administration will have Israel's back more than the previous one. None of the senior officials on the call attended the event. The order comes ahead of visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month.

The multi-country tour will coincide with Trump's participation in the annual North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Brussels on May 25 and a G7 summit in Southern Italy on May 26. Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab Gulf nations, then felt neglected when Obama brokered a deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons, leading to fears the United States was realigning its interests in the region.

In Israel, Trump will roll up his sleeves and dive into the spadework of brokering an Israel-Palestine peace deal, a task the former reality television host described Wednesday as "not as hard as people have thought", yet which has eluded every modern president.

Spicer said 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. Trump, at this stage, hasn't accepted, though a person close to Trudeau said he doesn't feel snubbed.