It’s a Washington cliche that when things aren’t going well at home, a president travels abroad to help reset the narrative. So President Trump’s first foreign trip is appropriately timed.

His nine-day, five-stop journey through the Middle East and Europe is, however, unlikely to give him respite from controversies about his firing of FBI Director James Comey, and the appointment of a special counsel to look into his campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia. Members of the White House press corps are traveling with the president, and they will take their questions with them.