Vice President Mike Pence will travel to three countries in the Middle East in late January, including Israel, where the Trump administration recently ordered the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The upcoming trip will occur weeks after its initial scheduling, which was postponed in mid-December so Pence could remain in Washington for a key vote on the GOP tax bill. Pence will now head overseas on Jan. 19, and return to Washington a week before President Trump delivers his first State of the Union address to Congress on Jan. 30.
A White House official confirmed that Pence will hold bilateral meetings with leaders from Egypt and Jordan during his trip and deliver remarks to Israeli government officials – something Trump had planned to do during his visit last May but ultimately cancelled due to concerns about hecklers.
“At President Trump’s direction, the Vice President is traveling to the Middle East to reaffirm our commitment to work with the U.S.’s allies in the region to defeat radicalism that threatens future generations,” Pence spokesman Alyssa Farah said in a statement to reporters.
Pence made several foreign trips in 2017, often traveling weeks ahead of the president to begin bilateral talks and establish a relationship with foreign leaders.
