The financial markets are set to be dominated by Donald Trump’s first foreign trip as American President. The nine day trip will give the President a break from domestic issues, specifically the ongoing Russian scandal and last week’s firing of Director James Comey of the FBI. The firing of Director Comey is being treated with suspicion as he was investigating any potential ties between the Trump campaign in the run up to the general election and the Russian government. The Russians are being accused of meddling in the American election in order to influence results in their favour.

Trump's First Foreign Trip

On Saturday, Donald Trump together with his wife Melania, landed in Saudi Arabia aboard Air Force One after a fourteen hour flight. The Saudi Kingdom will be Trump’s first stop on the nine day long trip, which is his first beyond American shores as President. He will also be visiting Israel and the Vatican as part of a tour which aims to visit countries that are pre-dominantly Muslim, Jewish and Christian. Many are seeing this tour as a religious tour in an attempt to fight and stamp out extremist ideologies and the threat by ISIS both to the Middle Eastern region and the world as a whole.

In Saudi Arabia, Trump was given a royal welcome and red carpet treatment as he was greeted by the Saudi King Salman and a military parade. He was also bestowed with the country’s highest honour as he was given a gilded necklace and medal by the King himself. On Sunday, Trump delivered a speech to Muslim leaders in which he focused on radical Islamic terrorism. He also signed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $350 billion over a ten year period which would further strengthen the relationship between the two countries which was strained under the Obama administration as focus was given to Iran and its nuclear ambitions. The Middle Eastern kingdom’s intentions in signing such a deal are to bolster their defences in the wake of ISIS. On Monday, Trump is set to land in Israel and meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to broker a peace deal with the Palestinian state, even though previous presidents have so far failed to do so.