Donald Trump's first trip overseas was supposed to be about building bridges and clarifying his administration's intentions to friends and foes alike.
But the US president heads for home Sunday with some of Washington's allies as bewildered as ever by the billionaire tycoon's abrasive, unpredictable style and the substance of his policy plans.
Trip stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel and the Palestinian territories secured broadly favourable coverage with Trump seen by some commentators as having finally hit a presidential note.
He then emerged from his Vatican meeting with Pope Francis in buoyant spirits, declaring himself inspired to work harder than ever in pursuit of peace around the world.
But the mood started to sour when the 70-year-old hit Brussels on Thursday.
There, he bluntly accused 23 out of 28 NATO countries of taking advantage of US taxpayers by failing to pay their way in the Atlantic alliance.
In talks with EU leaders, Trump appeared to display a limited grasp of how the world's biggest market operates a common trade policy, railing against Germany's "bad, very bad" surplus with his country.
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