Trump and his wife Melania, who dressed conservatively in black but did not cover her hair, walked side-by-side to the tarmac where they both shook hands with Saudi King Salman. "He's going to be tougher on Iran," said Philip Gordon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump wants Gulf states in particular to do more to tackle extremists such as the Islamic State jihadist group. After Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to Israel and the Palestinian Territories where he hopes to revive the moribund peace process. In Israel, Trump will meet his "friend" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Bethlehem.

Source: The Nation Bangkok May 20, 2017 07:30 UTC