United States presidential visits to the Middle East

Eight 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 of 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, or Yemen.

The countries of Middle East

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 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 J. 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.

Visits by former presidents
  1. 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.[23][24]
  2. Richard Nixon (without official State Department credentials) attended the funeral of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, in Cairo, Egypt, March 8, 1980.[25]
  3. 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.[26]
  4. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush attended the state funeral of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman, February 8, 1999.
  5. Bill Clinton attended the state funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016.

See also

References
  1. Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-04 at WebCite
  2. Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-04 at WebCite
  3. "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  8. "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. "(DIP) U.S. PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS ATATURK'S MAUSOLEUM". The Free Library. April 6, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  10. A Meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew | The White House
  11. "Obama reaches out to Muslim world". BBC. April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  12. 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.
  13. "President Obama Makes First Overseas Trip". The Washington Post. April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  14. "Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 2014." whitehouse.gov. February 3, 2014.
  15. Smith-Spark, Laura (January 24, 2015). "President Barack Obama to meet, pay respects to new Saudi King". CNN. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  16. "Obama, world leaders head to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences". Riyadh. Reuters. January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  17. Boyer, Dave (October 26, 2015). "Obama to visit Turkey, Philippines, Malaysia in November". The Washington Times. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  18. "Obama to meet with leaders of Turkey, Canada: White House". Reuters. November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  19. "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.
  20. 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.
  21. 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.
  22. Al-Hamid, Faheem (April 20, 2016). "Obama arriving today". Saudi Gazette. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  23. Hindley, Meredith (May–June 2014). "The Odyssey of Ulysses S. Grant". Humanities. 35 (3).
  24. McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. p. 472. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
  25. Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-671-69188-2.
  26. "Officials From Around the World Attending Sadat's Funeral". The New York Times. APAP. October 10, 1981.
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