President Trump is heading overseas for a remarkably ambitious diplomatic mission covering everything from Middle East peace to the fight against ISIS, in what could offer the White House a chance at a reset from waves of negative media coverage driven by the firing of FBI Director James Comey.<\/b>
\nPresident Trump is heading overseas for a remarkably ambitious diplomatic mission covering everything from Middle East peace to the fight against ISIS, in what could offer the White House a chance at a reset from waves of negative media coverage driven by the firing of FBI Director James Comey.
\u201cWe\u2019 re looking forward to a trip around the world, \u201d Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, amid yet another round of grilling by the White House press corps.
Spicer and other top White House officials have emphasized the need to put a stop to the leaks that have fueled the recent controversies, including a report that Trump revealed sensitive intelligence to the Russians and another that he once told Comey he \u201choped\u201d the FBI would back off the investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The White House disputes both accounts, and has tried to focus attention on the upcoming trip, Trump\u2019s first overseas foray as president.
TRUMP TRIP ITINERARY
\u201cI do think there’s an opportunity here, but Team Trump really needs some self-discipline if the president is to collect on what is a very real opportunity to improve things in the Middle East\u201d and elsewhere, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson told Fox News.
The president\u2019s agenda is, to say the least, ambitious. While most presidents start their first terms with visits to nearby Mexico and Canada, Trump is taking on some of the most intractable issues on the planet, right out of the gate.
The trip begins Friday with a stop in Saudi Arabia, followed by planned visits to Israel and the Vatican. Trump will later attend a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, and a G7 summit in Taormina, Italy.
Jim Townsend, the senior Pentagon official for Europe and NATO under President Barack Obama and a senior fellow with the left-leaning Center for a New American Security, suggested Trump could find some sympathy abroad. And he rejected suggestions that allies couldn\u2019 t trust the administration after the report that he shared Israel-obtained intelligence on ISIS with the Russian foreign minister.
\u201cThe allies themselves are politicians who know what it\u2019s like to be hammered at home, \u201d Townsend told Fox News. \u201cThere is some respect for the warrior, and there is some sympathy because he\u2019s getting beat up, but most of all they have a lot of respect for his national security team and for what we can do as a government.\u201d
Nile Gardiner, of the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, also doesn\u2019 t think the media scrutiny will impact Trump diplomacy. \u201cOur allies are going to work with the president regardless of domestic upheaval because it\u2019s in their strategic interest, \u201d he said.
Indeed, the Israelis have downplayed the impact of the discussion of intelligence with the Russian foreign minister. \u201cIf Obama didn\u2019 t succeed in intentionally destroying the U. S.-Israeli security relationship, Trump\u2019s not going to do it accidentally, \u201d said a veteran Middle East analyst briefed on the president\u2019s trip. \u201cThe Israelis know that these leak stories are a media campaign aimed at undermining the historical visit and Trump\u2019s broader efforts to restore the U. S.-Israeli alliance.\u201d
Gardiner, a former adviser to the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, argued that Trump\u2019s trip could reflect a dynamic that\u2019s the opposite of what transpired the last eight years. \u201cWhen President Obama was in office things were relatively calm domestically compared to now, but his overseas visits were often strategic failures, lacking in leadership, often aimless and directionless, \u201d he said.
When Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia on Friday, he is expected to outline his vision for a new \u201cArab NATO\u201d to fight terrorism and contain Iran. He also will announce one of the largest arms deals in history, as he prepares to next prod Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the table for peace talks.
Townsend is skeptical about the prospects for a pan-Arab military alliance. \u201cNATO is really unique because of Europe\u2019s shared history and desire to avoid another conflict like World War II, \u201d he said. \u201cThese nations in the Middle East don\u2019 t share that kind of history. There\u2019s a lot of reasons why an \u2018Arab NATO\u2019 would fracture.\u201d
Gardiner said the bar is set higher for Trump compared to his predecessor. \u201cWhen President Obama started off on an apology tour around the world, much of the press didn\u2019 t bat an eyelid and it was quite humiliating for a president to do that. President Trump knows that he\u2019s going to attract a lot more criticism. I think a big chunk of the media will be looking for the president to fail, \u201d he said.
Townsend said there is still plenty of room for positives, especially as the trip moves on into Europe next week, with visits to Brussels, the Vatican and Sicily for the G7 meeting, not least because Trump already knows many of the leaders he\u2019 ll be meeting with. \u201cHe\u2019s going to see people he should feel comfortable with. The trip itself is going to be full of important symbolism, for his base if you\u2019 re Catholic\u2026 and Europe itself just had a populist uprising, \u201d he said.
Gardiner said the \u201cbest way for Trump to respond to his critics is to make clear in Brussels that he stands with his NATO allies against any Russian aggression and calls for Moscow to back off on Ukraine.\u201d
Just as importantly, Townsend said, the rigid structure of a whirlwind tour through multiple countries, micromanaged by large staffs trying to keep up with busy schedules, cannot be underestimated when it comes to White House hopes to avoid gaffes and forge a reset.
\u201cTrump will be managed during those trips unlike in the White House where he loves to tweet, \u201d said Townsend. \u201cYou are really scripted and it\u2019s hard to get off that script. This will probably lessen the potential for something going on. Given all that\u2019s happened in the last 48 hours, some heat will inevitably come off.\u201d
Fox News\u2019 Ben Evansky contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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