It was an upbeat message for a leader fresh from meeting with his new club of foreign counterparts for the first time. But underneath the point-by-point recap of his trip lay uncertainty over his agenda and disputes with his foreign counterparts. <\/p>\n
Trump's first voyage abroad was a story told in chapters, each successively less pleasant for a President still taking stock of his standing on the world stage. <\/p>\n
Beyond a scattering of formal remarks, none of the story was told by Trump himself, who refused to hold a news conference and, by his advisers' own admission, revealed little of his thinking to top aides as he hopped from nation to nation. <\/p>\n
In some ways, uncertainty amounted to a win, at least in the minds of Trump's aides. As Trump prepared to depart Washington last Friday, there was little surety among his staff that the nine-day odyssey could proceed without failure. Trump himself, who hadn't slept in a bed that wasn't his own since taking office, remained skeptical a five-country itinerary could end well. <\/p>\n
A homebody with little appetite for discomfort, Trump was imagining the worst. Unpleasant foreign food, withering jet lag, and an unfamiliar bed had been his experiences as a businessman abroad. Even in the days leading up to his departure, Trump asked whether the trip could be truncated. He vented about the ambitious schedule to his senior advisers in the days leading up to his departure. <\/p>\n
But by then it was too late. With meetings locked in and the world anticipating his global debut, Trump settled into his quarters on Air Force One for a flight four times longer than any he'd taken as President. <\/p>\n
President Trump receives Saudi gold medal 01:43 <\/p>\n
Fourteen hours later, Trump was tucked into the back of his armored limousine, speeding into central Riyadh alongside King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and watching billboards plastered with both their faces whiz past. <\/p>\n
Yet an air of navet hung in the air after the President's speech to leaders of more than 50 Muslim majority nations. The White House described it as something of a fait accompli, with a top official twice declaring that the President had \"united the Muslim world.\" <\/p>\n
As Trump delivered his opening argument to a room packed with leaders of Muslim nations, however, the newly sedate language didn't entirely come through. <\/p>\n
\"There is still much work to be done,\" Trump said. \"That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds.\" <\/p>\n
Trump after UK attack: Terrorists evil losers 02:39 <\/p>\n
Huddling with aides in his suite at the storied King David hotel overlooking the old city, the message on extremism he'd delivered in Saudi Arabia -- which came with few details -- suddenly appeared more difficult. In Israel, a country intimately familiar with the scourge of terror and the entrenched politics of peace, the problem appeared even more insurmountable. <\/p>\n
Trump was unsatisfied with the language his advisers had prepared for a speech later that morning. The condemnation of the attack lacked verve, Trump believed. Describing the attackers in ordinary terms wouldn't suffice. Instead he wrote up his own description, using the insult he's long considered the most cutting. <\/p>\n
\"I will call them from now on losers because that's what's they are. They're losers,\" Trump said a few hours later standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. \"We'll have more of them. But they're losers -- just remember that.\" <\/p>\n
The message was well received. But hours later, it was clear Trump faced a steep climb before bridging the gaps that have long stymied American presidents' attempts at fostering stability in the Middle East. <\/p>\n
\"I hope this heralds a real change,\" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of Trump's remarks at the Israel Museum. \"Because if the attacker had been Palestinian and the victims had been Israeli children, the suicide bomber's family would have received a stipend from the Palestinian Authority. That's Palestinian law. That law must be changed.\" <\/p>\n
It was an intrusion of real-world obstacles into Trump's vision for peace, which he once deemed easy, but which this week he declared the hardest deal of all. <\/p>\n
President Trump, Pope Francis exchange gifts 01:20 <\/p>\n
The Pope presented Trump with a bound copy of his encyclical on protecting the environment, \"Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.\" <\/p>\n
For all the underlying tensions setting the stage for their first visit, given their unusually harsh exchange last year over immigration and whether the building of walls is a Christian thing to do, the Pope took another tack. <\/p>\n
A skilled politician in his own right, Francis honed in on the President's pending decision whether to pull the US from the Paris climate accord. It was the first of several conversations Trump conducted this week on the landmark carbon reduction agreement, which he vowed as a candidate to scrap. <\/p>\n
At the Vatican, though, Trump insisted his mind was open. <\/p>\n
\"I'll be reading them,\" Trump said of the essays from the Pope on the environment and creating peace. <\/p>\n
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, weighed in with the direct message urging Trump and his team to stay true to the Paris agreement. <\/p>\n
The President's first meeting with Francis was steeped in symbolism, the final stop in visiting the three homes of the Abrahamic religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. <\/p>\n
He's the second American president to visit the Vatican under Francis' papacy. While President Barack Obama's meeting was 20 minutes longer than Trump's, the Holy See wasted little time comparing the two. <\/p>\n
As he left the Apostolic Palace, Trump told the Pope: \"I won't forget what you said.\" <\/p>\n
If he meant climate change, the Pope will have won round one. <\/p>\n
Trump calls out NATO allies to pay up 02:04 <\/p>\n
Flying north from Rome, Trump found the temperature quickly cooling. He arrived at NATO's headquarters on the outskirts of Rome under a cloud of suspicion on multiple fronts. <\/p>\n
In one of the only off-script moments of his trip, Trump declared in Jerusalem that he hadn't mentioned Israel by name with his Russian visitors. But at NATO, the concerns still boiled. <\/p>\n
It was just one of the rifts between Trump and his European counterparts. After open-arm welcomes in Riyadh and Jerusalem, Trump's foreign swing took a distinct tonal shift. Instead of banquets and horses, Trump was suddenly flung into tension-filled meetings with leaders deeply skeptical of his foreign agenda. <\/p>\n
Subsequent sessions proceeded similarly. Trump reportedly griped about the hurdles in opening golf courses in Europe with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. European Council President Donald Tusk said after his meeting with Trump that they weren't able to bridge differences over Russia. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One on Saturday, May, 27, 2017, at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy. They were headed back to the United States after a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Trump greets people on May 27, after speaking to US troops at Naval Air Station Sigonella. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Trump addresses US troops and their families on May 27, at the Sigonella Naval Air Station. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive on May 27, to address US military personnel and families at Naval Air Station Sigonella. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Leaders of the G-7 and some African nations pose for a photo on May 27, on the second day of the G-7 summit in Taormina, Italy. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Trump gestures on May 27, during a G-7 session. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, arrive for a concert of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra while in Taormina, Italy, on Friday, May 26. The Trumps are in Italy for a two-day G-7 summit. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump and other leaders pose for a group photo at the G-7 summit on May 26. From left are European Council President Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump and Trudeau walk together after the group photo. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
G-7 leaders congregate during a walking tour on May 26. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump embraces new French President Emmanuel Macron on May 26. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
The leaders watch a French air squadron. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump stands with other world leaders during a NATO photo shoot on May 25. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump speaks with British Prime Minister Theresa May during a working dinner at NATO headquarters. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the NATO summit. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Melania Trump visits the Magritte Museum in Brussels with Amelie Derbaudrenghien, partner of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
A girl takes a selfie with Melania Trump at a children's hospital in Brussels on May 25. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump meets with Macron in Brussels. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump walks with European Council President Donald Tusk, center, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, right, after they met at the European Council in Brussels on May 25. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump, third from right, attends a meeting with leaders at the European Council. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump speaks with King Philippe of Belgium as Queen Mathilde and Melania Trump chat during a reception at the Royal Palace in Brussels on Wednesday, May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Tusk talks to Trump as he welcomes him in Brussels. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump stands with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel while the national anthem is played during Trump's arrival in Belgium on May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Protesters in Brussels demonstrate with effigies of Trump and Michel on May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump shakes hands with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome on May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump and the Pope exchange gifts. Trump presented the Pope with a first-edition set of Martin Luther King's writings. The Pope gave Trump an olive-tree medal that the Pope said symbolizes peace. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump and his wife look at the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Trump speaks to reporters in Rome during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, right, on May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
The first lady visits a pediatric hospital in Vatican City on May 24. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
People take pictures of the message Trump wrote at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, on May 23. <\/p>\n
Photos: President Trump's first foreign trip <\/p>\n
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Trump, feted and chided abroad, returns to uncertainty at home - CNN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was an upbeat message for a leader fresh from meeting with his new club of foreign counterparts for the first time. Continue reading