Trump receives a royal welcome in Saudi Arabia


President Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, around 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, beginning his first tour abroad since taking office.
His arrival was fêted with a brass band, cannon booms, and jets painting the sky with red, white, and blue smoke. Saudi King Salman was on the tarmac to greet the president and first lady Melania Trump, who, like former first lady Michelle Obama, did not cover her hair in the traditional Saudi style. President Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, join him on the trip, as do many senior members of the White House staff.
On Sunday, Trump is due to give a speech on the subject of Islam. A leaked draft of the speech the White House says is authentic but not finalized has Trump urging Arab leaders to "drive out the terrorists from your places of worship," casting the war on terror as a "battle between good and evil." The draft does not include "radical Islamic terrorism," a phrase Trump on the campaign trail attacked Democrats for failing to speak.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After his Saudi stay, Trump will visit Israel, Italy, and Belgium. The agenda includes the NATO and G7 summits; meetings with world leaders; and tours of historical landmarks.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
The GOP: Merging flag and cross
Feature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
October 7 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include Chicago in trouble, RFK Jr's medical advice, and more
-
Does Reform have a Russia problem?
Talking Point Nigel Farage is ‘in bed with Putin’, claims Rachel Reeves, after party’s former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to taking bribes from the Kremlin
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot