{"id":8024,"date":"2023-04-28T10:58:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T15:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T23:55:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T03:55:06","slug":"5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/04\/28\/5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad\/","title":{"rendered":"5 facts about presidential travel abroad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American presidents and other world leaders frequently travel internationally, most commonly for conferences and bilateral meetings. This face-to-face diplomacy can offer insights into political priorities, partnerships and tensions, as well as key international issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/topic\/coronavirus-disease-covid-19\/\">COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> disrupted international travel in 2020 and 2021, but diplomatic travel picked up significantly in 2022. Here are five facts about presidential travel abroad:<\/p>\n\n\n<div style=\"border-width:1px;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);--block-gap: inherit\" class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible has-background has-ui-beige-very-light-background-color has-border-color has-ui-beige-dark-border-color\" id=\"how-we-did-this\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/collapsible&quot;}\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;collapsibleId&quot;:&quot;how-we-did-this&quot;,&quot;isOpen&quot;:false}\" data-wp-class--is-open=\"context.isOpen\" data-wp-init--scroll-into-view=\"callbacks.onInitScrollIntoView\"><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__title\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.onClick\"><div>How we did this<\/div><button class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__icon\"><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"context.isOpen\"><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-plus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-plus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><span data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!context.isOpen\" hidden><i class=\"icon icon-library__light icon__circle-minus\"><svg style=\"width: 1em; height: 1em;\"><use xlink:href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/plugins\/prc-icon-library\/build\/icons\/sprites\/light.svg#circle-minus\"><\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-prc-block-collapsible__content\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to examine the international travel history of recent U.S. presidents and other heads of government through Jan. 20, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dates and destinations of U.S. presidential travel prior to 2021 are from the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Office of the Historian, which has recorded international presidential travel since 1901. Travel data for 2021 and 2022 was compiled from White House press briefings. Information on visits to Ukraine by other world leaders were independently verified through official government websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only trips where the head of government met face-to-face with another head of government are included. For example, Biden\u2019s trip to the UK for Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s funeral is excluded as Biden did not hold any diplomatic meetings with the British prime minister or other world leaders. Visiting leaders were only counted if they were the head of government at the time of their visit. Depending on the country\u2019s political system, \u201chead of government\u201d could mean president or prime minister, but not both. Heads of state, monarchs and interim leaders are excluded from the visiting leaders count.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>U.S. President Joe Biden has traveled internationally less frequently than his last two predecessors did.<\/strong> Biden traveled to 17 places outside the United States in his first two years in office, visiting some more than once. He made six international trips in 2021, all of them to Europe. In 2022, he made 12 trips, including to Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. And in early 2023, Biden traveled to Mexico for the North American Leaders\u2019 Summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-310-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-9832\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/04\/28\/5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad\/sr_2023-04-27_travel_1-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ebebeb\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ebebeb;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_1.png?resize=480,910 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_1.png?resize=620,1176 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"588\" width=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_1.png?w=310\" alt=\"A table showing the destination and reason for Biden's international travel, two years into his presidency.\" class=\"wp-image-9832 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All told, Biden\u2019s international visit count trails those of former Presidents Donald Trump, who made 23 international trips to 20 places during his first two years in office, and Barack Obama, who made 32 trips to 24 places in the first two years of his presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Biden\u2019s first presidential trip abroad was to the United Kingdom, while Trump\u2019s was to Saudi Arabia and Obama\u2019s was to Canada. <\/strong>A president\u2019s first trip is often used to signal the importance of a strategic alliance. On his trip to the UK in June 2021, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-56865812\">reaffirmed the U.S.-UK partnership and committed to close cooperation<\/a> throughout his presidency. Typically, U.S. presidents visit a close ally on their inaugural trip: Canada was the first international destination for both Obama and Bill Clinton, while Mexico was the first destination for George W. Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>U.S. presidents have visited the UK the most in the past decade \u2013 a total of eight times. <\/strong>American presidents have worked closely with their British counterparts over the past decade, cooperating on issues from <a href=\"https:\/\/obamawhitehouse.archives.gov\/the-press-office\/2012\/03\/14\/joint-fact-sheet-us-and-uk-defense-cooperation\">defense and counterterrorism<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/joint-statement-the-united-states-and-the-united-kingdom-are-working-together-in-the-fight-against-climate-change\/\">climate policy<\/a>. Travel to the UK has largely centered around conferences and summits, but in 2019, Trump made a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/uk-38794886\">ceremonial state visit to the UK<\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-9836\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/04\/28\/5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad\/sr_2023-04-27_travel_2-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"eaeef1\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #eaeef1;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?resize=480,395 480w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?resize=782,643 782w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?resize=960,789 960w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?resize=1200,986 1200w, https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?resize=1280,1052 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"526\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/sr_2023.04.27_travel_2.png?w=640\" alt=\"A world map showing that U.S. presidents have visited the UK the most in the past decade - eight times in all. \" class=\"wp-image-9836 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the past decade of presidential travel, Belgium (home to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/cps\/en\/natohq\/topics_49284.htm#:~:text=NATO%20Headquarters%20is%20the%20political,Leopold%20III%20in%20Brussels%2C%20Belgium.\">NATO headquarters<\/a>), France, Germany and Japan are the second-most visited destinations, at six times each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, Biden has made the most trips to the UK and Belgium \u2013 two each. (Biden\u2019s additional visit to the UK to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/09\/19\/politics\/biden-world-leaders-queen-elizabeth-funeral\/index.html\">attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II<\/a> is not included in this count, since he did not hold any diplomatic appointments.) Just as these two European allies stand out in Biden\u2019s presidential travel thus far, France stands out in Trump\u2019s administration and Germany stands out in Obama\u2019s \u2013 they visited those respective countries four times while in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Biden is among 38 heads of government who have visited Ukraine since the beginning of the war there.<\/strong> Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-us-canada-64710479\">traveled to Kyiv as part of a surprise trip<\/a> in February, days before the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/02\/23\/what-public-opinion-surveys-found-in-the-first-year-of-the-war-in-ukraine\/\">first anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While many heads of government visiting Ukraine have come from neighboring countries or countries in Europe (such as Poland\u2019s prime minister, who has visited five times since the beginning of the war) that is not always the case. For example, Guatemala\u2019s President Alejandro Giammattei and Guinea-Bissau\u2019s President Umaro Sissoco Embal\u00f3 traveled to Ukraine in July 2022 and October 2022, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-has-big-number wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Biden hosted 28 heads of government at the White House as of the end of 2022.<\/strong> Foreign leaders come to the U.S. for events including conferences, summits and bilateral meetings. Among those to visit the White House in 2021 and 2022 were then-Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden, who met with Biden to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/05\/19\/1100104206\/biden-backs-sweden-and-finlands-nato-membership-application\">submit her country\u2019s application for NATO membership<\/a>; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who traveled to the White House on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/12\/21\/ukraines-zelenskyy-travels-to-us-to-meet-president-biden\">first known wartime trip abroad<\/a>; and French President Emmanuel Macron, whose trip marked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/26\/us\/politics\/biden-macron-state-visit.html\">first state visit of Biden\u2019s presidency<\/a>. In fact, the president of France has been the first leader to make a state visit to the U.S. for the past three presidential terms, with Macron visiting Trump in April 2018 and his predecessor, Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, visiting Obama in February 2014. In April 2023, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2023\/03\/07\/biden-south-korea-state-dinner\/\">hosted the second state visit of his administration<\/a>, meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel in 2020 and 2021, but diplomatic travel picked up significantly in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-05-02T19:42:31Z","apple_news_api_id":"30fbdc9b-518f-4f99-8238-34d4e16c3910","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-05-09T15:04:18Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AMPvcm1GPT5mCODTU4Ww5EA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"apple_news_api_pending":"1713063297","relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[26,383,88],"bylines":[601],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[505,515],"research-teams":[525],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-8024","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-international-affairs","category-joe-biden","category-leaders","bylines-sarah-austin","formats-short-read","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-global"],"label":"Short Read","post_parent":0,"word_count":879,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2023\/04\/28\/5-facts-about-presidential-travel-abroad\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":9839,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_topic.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":9843,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A3":{"id":9843,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A4":{"id":9843,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"XL":{"id":9839,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_topic.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":9849,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_feature.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/04\/SR_23.04.20_PresidentialTravel_feature.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"What international trips has Biden made? 5 facts about presidential travel %page%","description":"The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel in 2020 and 2021, but diplomatic travel picked up significantly in 2022.","og_title":"5 facts about presidential travel abroad","og_description":"The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel in 2020 and 2021, but diplomatic travel picked up significantly in 2022.","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"regions-countries":10822328,"research-teams":10818960},"custom_schema":[],"twitter_title":"5 facts about presidential travel abroad","twitter_description":"The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel in 2020 and 2021, but diplomatic travel picked up significantly in 2022.","og_image":9849,"twitter_image":429054,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{},"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"_o8x9qkhji","termId":601}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/short-read"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23707,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/short-read\/8024\/revisions\/23707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=8024"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=8024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}