President Obama is shifting his focus to foreign policy over the next two months, beginning Friday when he met with the King of Jordan in California.
The meeting at the Sunnylands estate with King Abdullah II was part of a foreign policy blitz expected to dominate the president’s agenda.
His packed schedule includes trips to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, and signals a break from the beginning of the year, which focused more on domestic policy. Obama will travel to nine countries by the end of April.
Obama will visit one key Middle East ally in Saudi Arabia, and host the leader of another when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the White House in March.
Presidents in their second terms frequently turn to foreign policy as they see their influence wane at home
Obama pledged $200 million in additional humanitarian aid last year to help Jordan with the influx of refugees.
Later that month, the president will make a five-country swing through Europe and the Middle East that includes stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, the Vatican, and Saudi Arabia.
But the trip to Saudi Arabia may have the heaviest foreign policy consequences. Tensions between the U.S. and its Middle Eastern ally have been strained over the nuclear deal with Iran — the main Saudi rival in the region. The Saudis have also voiced their disapproval with the administration’s Egypt policy — and especially a move to withhold part of the $1.5 billion in annual military aid the U.S. sends to the country — as well as concern over Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s continued grip on power.