Trump in the Sand: President Trump is in Israel today hoping to make the ultimate deal: peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He’s scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Addressing Sunni Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia yesterday, President Trump asked Muslim countries to unite to fight extremism within their faith. He said, “We now face a humanitarian and security disaster in this region that is spreading across the planet. It is a tragedy of epic proportions. No description of the suffering and depravity can begin to capture its full measure.”

Trump did not repeat his campaign claims that Islam is a religion of violence  that hates America. He told the Arab leaders he would not lecture them about human rights and announced the signing of an alliance to deny funding to terrorist organizations. He called for the isolation of Iran as a sponsor of terrorism.

It may have been the most straightforward and on-point speech of Trump’s short presidency. He didn’t talk about himself or what he touts as his early triumphs. He spoke about terrorism saying, “There can be no coexistence with this violence. There can be no tolerating it, no accepting it, no excusing it, and no ignoring it. This is a battle between Good and Evil.”

Tin Cup: Working on the side while her father massaged Muslim relations, Ivanka Trump got Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to donate a combined $100 million to a World Bank fund for women entrepreneurs. Of course, women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia will not be allowed to drive or leave the house without a male family escort.

Walkout: Dozens of graduating seniors at the University of Notre Dame walked out of their own commencement ceremony in protest of having Vice-President Mike Pence as their speaker.

By tradition, every four years the university invites the new president to speak, but thousands of students and faculty signed a petition asking Notre Dame’s president not to do it. Instead, they got Pence, who gave no reaction as students walked out at the opening of his speech.

Iron Man: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced yesterday that he’s extending the national state of emergency imposed after last year’s attempted coup until the country achieves “welfare and peace.” He has given himself the power to rule without parliamentary oversight. Erdogan’s government has arrested 40,000 people accused of being associated with the coup, and fired or suspended 140,000 people from their jobs.

Last Steps: The famous “Hillary Step,” the 39-foot rocky outcrop just below the top of Mt. Everest, has collapsed, possibly as the result of earthquake damage. The absence of the step makes it just a little harder to get to the top.

Four deaths were reported on the mountain yesterday, including Dr. Roland Yearwood, 50, from Alabama, who had survived an avalanche on the mountain in 2015.

Big Game: South African big game hunter Theunis Botha was killed in Zimbabwe Friday when his hunting party stumbled upon a herd of elephants. Three of the elephants charged the hunters, one of them attacking Botha. Another hunter fired and the elephant collapsed dead on top of Botha.

New Driver: With sales and its stock price down, Ford Motor is replacing its chief executive, Mark Shields. He’s being replaced by Jim Hackett, who’s been heading Ford’s effort to develop self-driving cars.

Live from New York: Scarlett Johansson and SNL’s “Weekend Update” host Colin Jost reported to be kissing and “canoodling” at the after-party following SNL’s last show of the season. Bobby Moynihan and Vanessa Bayer have already announced they are leaving the show, but not because Colin was canoodling with ScarJo.

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