U.S. President Donald Trump has completed his first overseas trip, a nine-day tour that took him to the Mideast and to Europe. He and his team consider the visit a success. He stuck closely to his script and while there were some awkward moments, there was nothing to overshadow the messages that he sought to deliver. The problem for others, including U.S. allies and partners like Japan, is the content of those messages. Trump's comments on this tour raise questions anew about his administration's commitment to core elements of the Western foreign policy consensus.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, speaking to a large assembly of Sunni leaders, Trump highlighted the challenge posed by Islamic extremism and the Islamic State group. He backed away from campaign rhetoric that characterized Islam as a faith that hates the West; instead he demonized Iran for supporting terrorism and promoting regional instability. That was music to the ears of the Sunni leaders who consider Tehran to be a political and religious challenge to their status, but he failed to acknowledge the role of Wahhabism (promoted by Saudi Arabia) in fomenting the same unrest or Saudi Arabia's role in backing civil war in Yemen.

Denunciations of Iran also rang hollow as they were made to a group of autocratic leaders with no democratic pretenses at a moment when Iran was holding elections. Trump pointedly noted that his administration would not lecture partners of the United States about how to run their countries, a repudiation of the long-standing U.S. commitment to the promotion of democracy and human rights. That silence assumed ominous significance days after the speech when Bahrain cracked down on dissidents in a raid that resulted in five deaths and the arrests of hundreds of people.