What to Know About Trump’s Middle East Tour

President Donald Trump kicked off the first extended overseas trip of his second term with a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia this week.

The tour, which is meant to highlight cooperation between the U.S. and the Middle East as well as Trump’s economic dealmaking, is getting overshadowed by global conflicts as well as corruption concerns.

“This world is a lot safer today than it was a week ago,” Trump told reporters ahead of his trip. “And a lot safer than it was six months ago.”

However, several global conflicts that Trump has injected himself into are ongoing, including wars in Gaza and Ukraine and Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The trip also comes as global perceptions of the U.S. recently plummeted in an annual democracy study.