Trump, dogged by questions at home, makes first trip abroad

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's maiden international trip, a five-stop marathon across the Middle East and Europe, long has loomed as a crucial first test abroad for the chaos-courting president.

That was before he fired his FBI director -- and the chain reaction of scandal that followed.

Now, with the eyes of the world upon him, the president will embark on his big trip carrying the baggage of troubles at home. As he tries to calm allies worried about his "America First" message, he'll be followed by fallout from his firing of FBI director James Comey and the appointment of a special counsel to probe the president's campaign ties with Russia.

"There has never been a president taking his first international trip being dogged by scandal like this," said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "He's already a president viewed skeptically by much of the world. And while the pictures from the trip may be great, the White House can't change the headlines that will follow him wherever he goes."

Trump's trip always was going to be dramatic.

U.S. allies have been rattled by his warnings about pulling back from the world. He is tasked with urging a united front against terror by appealing to some of the same corners of the Muslim world he has tried to keep out of the United States with his travel ban.

Last week, he added new layers of complication by disclosing classified intelligence to a longtime adversary.

Still, the White House once had hoped the trip, wrapped in the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic protocol, could offer a chance at a reset after a tumultuous first four months in office. Trump's advisers saw it as an opportunity for the United States to reassert itself boldly on the world stage and resume a leadership role the administration believes was abdicated by President Barack Obama. Trump's senior adviser, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, led a West Wing team to craft the agenda, laden with religious symbolism.

Still, Trump hasn't been eager to seize the opportunity. It's been more than a half-century since any president waited as long to take his first foreign trip.

The itinerary, which begins Saturday in Saudi Arabia, is an ambitious excursion for a president who dislikes travel and has displayed a shaky grasp of foreign affairs.

Trump's itinerary is heavy with religious symbolism. He'll visit the birthplace of Islam, the Jewish homeland and the Vatican. Officials say the message is "unity."

"He strongly believes that it is the strength of the faith of people in these religions that will stand up and ultimately be victorious over these forces of terrorism," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.