Packing his bags: Trump plans jet-setting summer of travel

Four days in Tokyo. Then it's off to see Queen Elizabeth before a jaunt to Normandy, France, and perhaps time in Ireland.

A return trip to Japan? Why not. And throw in Seoul. Then it's back to France for President Donald Trump for a summit with world leaders.

The homebody president is preparing for a jet-setting summer of travel as he heads into 2020, with an itinerary that will see Air Force One fly more than 36,000 miles — almost 1.5 times the earth's circumference — not counting helicopter trips and motorcades.

President Donald Trump walks to the Oval Office after arriving on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington. Trump is returning from a trip to New York. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)

The flurry of international travel is a marked change of pace for a president who likes to sleep in his own bed and rarely strays far from the White House unless it's to his own properties. The packed calendar is the product of both a concerted attempt by Trump to wrap himself in the trappings of the presidency heading into re-election season and a fluke of the global summit calendar.

It will play out as an array of foreign challenges, from Venezuela to North Korea and Iran, confronts a president who ran on an isolationist "America First" platform.

"When things are hot in Washington, there's an appeal to going abroad, being diplomatic, meeting with overseas leaders" and redirecting media attention, said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University. He said White Houses often hope the images beamed home from such trips will help presidents look more "presidential."

President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the National Association of REALTORS Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo, Friday, May 17, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)

A stream of television footage of Trump with foreign leaders "makes him look like he is the one directing the country, a contrast with the Democrats," Zelizer said.

Trump is set to depart Friday for a four-day state visit to Japan, where he will be the first world leader to meet with the country's new emperor. He plans to hold a joint news conference with Prime Minster Shinzo Abe and present a trophy at a sumo wrestling tournament.

Five days after he gets home, Trump is off for a state visit in the United Kingdom, where he'll mingle with the royal family and mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day with ceremonies in Portsmouth, England and Normandy.

He had been expected to return to Ireland, where he owns a golf course, but that stop was in question because of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's concerns about meeting with the president at a Trump property rather than more neutral territory, according to Irish media. Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney said reports of the spat were "a total exaggeration" and he told Irish broadcaster RTE that details of the visit were still being finalized.

The end of June will see Trump in Japan a second time. Meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are planned on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, followed by consultations in Seoul with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the state of North Korean nuclear negotiations.

Trump returns to France in late August for a Group of Seven summit in the seaside town of Biarritz on the Basque Country coast.

Trump is likely to be gone during at least one day of the inaugural Democratic presidential debates, scheduled to be held on back-to-back nights in late June owing to the sizable field of would-be Trump challengers. While his rivals are clamoring for the spotlight on stage, Trump will be abroad, welcomed by red carpets, honored with state dinners and engaging in policy discussions with presidents and prime ministers.

It's a split screen his campaign is eagerly awaiting.

"As they squabble in a field of two dozen socialists, President Trump is orchestrating the hottest economy on record, rectifying our trade relations across the globe, meeting with world leaders and pushing America First foreign policy," said campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany. "All of this while rallying with his supporters across the country. I'd say to the 2020 Democrats, good luck keeping up."

The trips also come as foreign policy is increasingly dominating Trump's agenda. His administration is promoting a change of government in Venezuela, Trump's friend Kim Jong Un is firing off missiles in North Korea, and tensions are growing between the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. is in an escalating trade war with China, with negotiations to find a solution at their lowest point in months.

While Trump's team believes the pageantry of global affairs offers an advantage to the incumbent, it also brings pitfalls. Trump has at times flouted diplomatic protocol and called into question the U.S. commitment to its alliances like no recent leader. That's a frequent line of attack from Democrats such as former Vice President Joe Biden, who has made returning to an internationalist foreign policy a centerpiece of his campaign.

Already, surveys show global affairs threaten to be a significant political liability for Trump heading into his 2020 re-election bid.

Overall, 63 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump's job handling foreign policy in a January poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Like other issues, the partisan divide was overwhelming: 76 percent of Republicans approved, while just 8 percent of Democrats said the same.

After a pair of whirlwind tours in 2017, Trump has lagged his predecessors in overseas travel and has skipped several world gatherings typically attended by American presidents, sending Vice President Mike Pence instead. Aides often note that Trump agrees to trips ahead of time then complains to them about the pace of travel once they're underway.

Nonetheless, Trump, like other presidents, has often tried to deploy the majesty of presidential travel for political gain, using Air Force One as a backdrop for campaign rallies and playing footage of his meetings with world leaders in tweeted videos.

But Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, said he didn't think the visuals mattered much for Trump.

"I don't think it makes a lick of difference," he said. While past presidents may have been keen to show off their foreign policy know-how, forge alliances and convey strength, Fleischer said "this cycle is not like that" because Trump's appeal is driven so much by his personality.

Zelizer agreed, noting the unusual stability of Trump's approval and disapproval ratings.

For Trump haters, those emotions "will overshadow any handshakes," he said, while "for those who love him, I don't think that's why."

Follow Miller and Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller and https://twitter.com/colvinj

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)