Ammon News - U.S. President Donald Trump departed on the first major foreign trip of his second term this morning, heading first to Saudi Arabia and then Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The presidential plane took off for Riyadh from Andrews Air Force Base on the outskirts of Washington, coinciding with Hamas' announcement that it had handed over Israeli-American detainee Idan Alexander, who had been held in the Gaza Strip, to the International Red Cross.

Trump described his visit to the Middle East as "historic."

On Wednesday, Trump will join the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for the fifth Gulf-US summit in Riyadh.

Before his departure, Trump hinted that he may also travel to Turkey on Thursday to attend potential talks between Ukraine and Russia on ending the war between them.