After two weeks of vigorously signing executive orders, 20 as of February 6, undoing Obama-era regulations, and engaging foreign leaders in often heated exchanges by phone, Trump is gearing up to make offshore visits to, as Axios puts it, "reedem himself as a diplomat" in coming months. According to the AP, his phone call readout reveal significant upcoming overseas travel, "and Europe is the destination."
Some details: "Trump has been burning up White House telephone lines calling his world counterparts and, during those talks, has committed to several trans-Atlantic trips."
He spoke Sunday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and agreed to attend a NATO leaders' meeting in Brussels in late May. Trump once dismissed the trans-Atlantic military alliance as "obsolete."
Trump spoke with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Saturday and promised to attend a late May summit of the Group of Seven leading industrial nations in Taormina, Italy.
In talks last weekend with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the White House says Trump accepted her invitation to the Group of 20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany, in early July.
Here is a quick summary of his key upcoming trips courtesy of Axios:
- Brussels: Trump agreed to attend a NATO leaders' meeting in late May, where he'll have to live down his "obsolete" gibe.
- Italy: Trump promised Italian PM Paolo Gentiloni that he'd attend a late-May summit of G-7 industrial nations in Taormina, Italy.
- Germany: Trump accepted the invitation of Angela Merkel to attend the G-20 economic summit in Hamburg, Germany in early July.
- UK: Trump will attend a state visit extended by Queen Elizabeth II, expected this summer.
Additionally, Trump is expected to receive more foreign leaders in the coming days, starting with Japan's PM Shinzo Abe on Friday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 15, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau sometime this month. It remains unclear if and when Trump will meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who canceled his Jan. 31 visit over disagreement with Trump over who will pay for the wall Trump has pledged to build along the U.S.-Mexico border.