President Donald Trump will visit Israel, the Vatican, and Saudi Arabia later this month on his first foreign trip since entering office, the White House announced Thursday.
Multiple reports confirmed that Trump will visit the three destinations during a planned trip for the end of May. The president's foreign tour will conclude at a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25, followed by the G7 summit in Sicily, Italy the next day.
"Tolerance is the cornerstone of peace," Trump planned to say Thursday in prepared remarks, according to the New York Times. "That is why I am proud to make a major and historic announcement this morning and share with you that my first foreign trip as president will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, then the Vatican in Rome."
"Our task is not to dictate to others how to live," Trump said of his trip to Saudi Arabia, "but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity, and stability to the Middle East."
A president's first foreign trip is often seen as a significant event, signaling foreign policy priorities of the new administration.
The Trump administration has been working to strengthen American alliances after the president criticized many of the country's traditional partnerships throughout the 2016 campaign.
Israeli officials confirmed last week that they were in talks with the White House to arrange a visit to Jerusalem. Trump will also travel to Rome to meet Pope Francis and to gather Arab leaders for a meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
It is unclear if the White House factored in the three destinations' religious significance when planning the trip. Israel is the world's only Jewish state home to Judaism's holiest site, the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. The Vatican is home to the pope and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, while Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, are located in Saudi Arabia.