United States presidential visits to the Middle East
Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to the Middle East. The first trips by an incumbent president to countries in (or partly within) the Middle East were those by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and were an offshoot of Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. To date, 16 visits have been made to Egypt, 12 to Saudi Arabia, 11 to Israel, six to both Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, four to Iran, three to the Palestinian Territories, two to both Kuwait and Syria, one to Bahrain, Georgia, Oman, Qatar, and to the United Arab Emirates. No incumbent American president has yet visited Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Table of visits
President | Dates | Countries | Locations | Key details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Franklin D. Roosevelt[1] | November 22–26, 1943 | Egypt | Cairo | Attended First Cairo Conference with British prime minister Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek. |
November 27 – December 2, 1943 | Iran | Tehran | Attended Tehran Conference with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. | |
December 2–7, 1943 | Egypt | Cairo | Attended Second Cairo Conference with British prime minister Churchill and Turkish president İsmet İnönü. | |
February 13–15, 1945 | Great Bitter Lake, Suez Canal, Alexandria | Met with King Farouk, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, Saudi Arabian king Ibn Saud, and British Prime Minister Churchill. | ||
Dwight D. Eisenhower[2] | December 6–7, 1959 | Turkey | Ankara | Informal Visit. Met with President Celâl Bayar. |
December 14, 1959 | Iran | Tehran | Met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Addressed Parliament. | |
Richard Nixon[3] | May 30–31, 1972 | Iran | Tehran | Official Visit. Met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. |
June 12–14, 1974 | Egypt | Cairo, Alexandria | Met with President Anwar Sadat. | |
June 14–15, 1974 | Saudi Arabia | Jeddah | Met with King Faisal. | |
June 15–16, 1974 | Syria | Damascus | Met with President Hafez al-Assad. | |
June 16–17, 1974 | Israel | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem | Met with President Ephraim Katzir and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. | |
June 17–18, 1974 | Jordan | Amman | State Visit. Met with King Hussein. | |
Jimmy Carter[4] | December 31, 1977 – January 1, 1978 |
Iran | Tehran | Official Visit. Met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and King Hussein of Jordan. |
January 3–4, 1978 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Met with King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd. | |
January 4, 1978 | Egypt | Aswan | Met with President Sadat and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. | |
March 7–9, 1979 | Cairo, Alexandria, Giza | State visit; met with President Sadat and addressed the People's Assembly. | ||
March 10–13, 1979 | Israel | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem | State Visit. Met with President Yitzhak Navon and Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Addressed the Knesset. | |
March 13, 1979 | Egypt | Cairo | Met with President Sadat. | |
George H. W. Bush[5] | November 21–22, 1990 | Saudi Arabia | Jeddah, Dhahran | Met with King Fahd and the Amir of Kuwait. Addressed U.S. and British military personnel in eastern Saudi Arabia. |
November 22–23, 1990 | Egypt | Cairo | Discussed the Persian Gulf crisis with President Hosni Mubarak. | |
July 20–22, 1991 | Turkey | Ankara, Istanbul | Met with President Turgut Ozal. | |
December 31, 1992 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Met with King Fahd. | |
Bill Clinton[6] | October 25–26, 1994 | Egypt | Cairo | Met with President Hosni Mubarak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. |
October 26–27, 1994 | Jordan | Aqaba, Wadi Arava, Amman | Attended the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement. Addressed the Jordanian Parliament. | |
October 27, 1994 | Syria | Damascus | Met with President Hafez al-Assad. | |
October 27–28, 1994 | Israel | Jerusalem | Met with senior Israeli officials. Addressed the Knesset. | |
October 28, 1994 | Kuwait | Kuwait City | Met with Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
October 28, 1994 | Saudi Arabia | King Khalid Military City | Met with King Fahd. | |
November 5–6, 1995 | Israel | Jerusalem | Attended the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. | |
March 13, 1996 | Egypt | Sharm el-Sheikh | Attended the Summit of the Peacemakers. | |
March 13–14, 1996 | Israel | Jerusalem, Tel Aviv | Discussed cooperation against terrorism with senior Israeli officials. | |
December 12–15, 1998 | Jerusalem, Masada | Met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials. | ||
December 14–15, 1998 | Palestinian National Authority | Gaza, Bethlehem, Erez | Addressed Palestine National Council. Attended a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman Yasser Arafat. | |
February 8, 1999 | Jordan | Amman | Attended the funeral of King Hussein. | |
November 15–19, 1999 | Turkey | Ankara, İzmit, Ephesus, Istanbul | State Visit. Attended Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Summit meeting. | |
March 25, 2000 | Oman | Muscat | Met with Sultan Qaboos bin Said. | |
August 29, 2000 | Egypt | Cairo | Briefed President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East Peace Process. | |
October 16–17, 2000 | Sharm el-Sheikh | Attended the Israeli-Palestinian Summit Meeting. | ||
George W. Bush[7] | June 2–3, 2003 | Sharm el-Sheikh | Attended "Red Sea Summit" with the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, and with Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas. | |
June 4, 2003 | Jordan | Aqaba | Attended meetings with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas. Met with King Abdullah II. | |
June 4–5, 2003 | Qatar | Doha | Met with Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Visited U.S. Central Command headquarters and addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
November 27, 2003 | Iraq | Baghdad | Met with members of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
June 26–29, 2004 | Turkey | Ankara, Istanbul | Met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Attended the NATO Summit meeting. | |
May 9–10, 2005 | Georgia | Tbilisi | Met with President Mikheil Saakashvili. | |
June 13, 2006 | Iraq | Baghdad | Met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
November 29–30, 2006 | Jordan | Amman | Met with King Abdullah II and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. | |
September 3, 2007 | Iraq | Al Asad Airbase | Met with Gen. David Petraeus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, senior U.S. officials, Iraqi political leaders. Addressed U.S military personnel. | |
January 9–11, 2008 | Israel | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem | Met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres. Visited Yad Vashem. | |
January 10, 2008 | Palestinian National Authority | Ramallah, Bethlehem | Met with President Mahmoud Abbas. Visited the Church of the Nativity. | |
January 11–12, 2008 | Kuwait | Kuwait City, Camp Arifjan | Attended Roundtable on Democracy and Development. Met with Gen. David Petraeus and United States ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
January 12–13, 2008 | Bahrain | Manama | Met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Addressed U.S. military personnel. | |
January 13–14, 2008 | United Arab Emirates | Abu Dhabi, Dubai | Met with President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. | |
January 14–16, 2008 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh, Al-Janadriyah | Met with King Abdullah. | |
January 16, 2008 | Egypt | Sharm el-Sheikh | Met with President Hosni Mubarak. | |
May 14–16, 2008 | Israel | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Masada | Met with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Addressed the Knesset. Attended Israel's 60th anniversary. Visited the Masada fortification site. | |
May 16–17, 2008 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh, al-Janadriyah | Met with King Abdullah. | |
May 17–18, 2008 | Egypt | Sharm el-Sheikh | Met with President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad, Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. Addressed the World Economic Forum. | |
December 14, 2008 | Iraq | Baghdad | Met with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Signed Strategic Framework and Security Agreements. Visited U.S. military personnel. | |
Barack Obama[8] | April 5–7, 2009 | Turkey | Ankara, Istanbul | Met with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Delivered a speech to the Turkish Parliament. Laid a wreath at Anitkabir Mausoleum,[9] Also met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church,[10] attended the Alliance of Civilizations forum,[11] and participated in a town hall meeting with students at the Tophane Cultural Center.[12][13] |
April 7–8, 2009 | Iraq | Baghdad | Met with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Visited with U.S. troops. | |
June 3–4, 2009 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Met with King Abdullah. | |
June 4, 2009 | Egypt | Cairo | Met with President Hosni Mubarak. Toured the Giza Pyramids. Delivered a speech at Cairo University. | |
March 20–22, 2013 | Israel | Tel Aviv, Jerusalem | Met with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Visited the Shrine of the Book and Yad Vashem, and spoke to students at the International Convention Center. | |
March 21–22, 2013 | Palestinian National Authority | Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Bethlehem | Met with President Mahmoud Abbas. Visited the Church of the Nativity. | |
March 22–23, 2013 | Jordan | Amman, Petra | Met with King Abdullah II. | |
March 28, 2014 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Met with King Abdullah.[14] | |
January 27, 2015 | Met with the newly appointed king Salman. Also paid respects to the late king Abdullah.[15][16] | |||
November 14–17, 2015 | Turkey | Antalya | Attended the G-20 Summit Meeting.[17] also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Russian president Vladimir Putin.[18][19][20][21] | |
April 20–21, 2016 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Official visit. Met with King Salman. Attended a summit meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council.[22] | |
September 30, 2016 | Israel | Jerusalem | Attended the state funeral of former President Shimon Peres. | |
Donald Trump | May 20–22, 2017 | Saudi Arabia | Riyadh | Met with King Salman. Participated in the 2017 Riyadh Summit |
May 22–23, 2017 | Israel | Jerusalem | Met with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. | |
May 23, 2017 | Palestinian National Authority | Bethlehem | Met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. | |
December 26, 2018 | Iraq | Al Asad Air Base | Visited with U.S military personnel serving in Western Iraq. | |
Joe Biden | July 13–15, 2022 | Israel | Jerusalem | Met with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid. |
July 15, 2022 | Palestinian National Authority | Bethlehem | Met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.[23] | |
July 15–16, 2022 | Saudi Arabia | Jeddah | Met with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Participated in the GCC+3 Summit.[24] |
Visits by former presidents
- Ulysses S. Grant visited Alexandria, Egypt, met with Khedive Isma'il Pasha, sailed up the Nile to tour the Valley of the Kings, and travelled by train down the length of the Suez Canal in 1878, during a post-presidency world tour. During the same tour, he visited Jerusalem.[25][26]
- Richard Nixon (without official State Department credentials) attended the funeral of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, in Cairo, Egypt, March 8, 1980.[27]
- Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were among the dignitaries representing the United States at the funeral of Egyptian president Sadat in Cairo, October 10, 1981.[28]
- Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush attended the state funeral of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman, February 8, 1999.
- Bill Clinton attended the state funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016.
See also
- United States foreign policy in the Middle East
- United States Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
- Middle East Policy Council
References
- ^ Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "(DIP) U.S. PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS ATATURK'S MAUSOLEUM". The Free Library. April 6, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ^ A Meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew | The White House
- ^ "Obama reaches out to Muslim world". BBC. April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
- ^ Sweet, Lynn (April 7, 2009). "President Obama official schedule and guidance, April 7, 2009. In Istanbul". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
- ^ "President Obama Makes First Overseas Trip". The Washington Post. April 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
- ^ "Statement by the Press Secretary on the President's Travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 2014." whitehouse.gov. February 3, 2014.
- ^ Smith-Spark, Laura (January 24, 2015). "President Barack Obama to meet, pay respects to new Saudi King". CNN. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ "Obama, world leaders head to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences". Reuters. Riyadh. January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ Boyer, Dave (October 26, 2015). "Obama to visit Turkey, Philippines, Malaysia in November". The Washington Times. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
- ^ "Obama to meet with leaders of Turkey, Canada: White House". Reuters. November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ "Obama to meet Saudi King Salman at G20-summit in Turkey: White House official". The Express Tribune. Reuters. November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- ^ Sweet, Lynn (November 14, 2015). "Obama guidance, press schedule Nov. 14, 15, 2015. To Turkey for G20". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ Hope, Christopher (November 16, 2015). "David Cameron and Barack Obama use G20 summit to urge Vladimir Putin to back them over Isil". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- ^ Al-Hamid, Faheem (April 20, 2016). "Obama arriving today". Saudi Gazette. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
- ^ House, The White (2022-07-15). "Readout of President Biden's Meeting with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority". The White House. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ House, The White (2022-07-16). "Remarks by President Biden at the GCC + 3 Summit Meeting". The White House. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ Hindley, Meredith (May–June 2014). "The Odyssey of Ulysses S. Grant". Humanities. 35 (3).
- ^ McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. p. 472. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
- ^ Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-671-69188-2.
- ^ "Officials From Around the World Attending Sadat's Funeral". The New York Times. APAP. October 10, 1981.