Story highlights Trump's nine-day trip began in Saudi Arabia

The President will visit five countries

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CNN) For someone who is rarely short on words -- on Twitter, if nowhere else -- President Donald Trump was downright silent Saturday.

The commander in chief uttered a total of 26 words in public during the first day of his maiden foreign voyage. The entirety of his public remarks, made ahead of a meeting with the Saudi crown prince, could have fit in a single tweet.

Instead, Trump let the pictures do the talking, and he almost certainly liked what they were saying.

The US leader was greeted in elaborate royal fashion here in the Saudi capital, where leaders hoped to woo him with displays of pomp and respect.

It's a feeling he's longed for at home, where a swirl of scandal has surrounded his first months in office. Instead of deference, Trump got a special prosecutor and nearly a week of damaging headlines.

Read More