On Thursday, President Obama leaves on a three day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica, where he will meet with key leaders to discuss a range of issues. In Mexico the President will meet with his counterpart, President Peña Nieto, on ways we can deepen our economic and commercial partnership.

In Costa Rica, President Chinchilla will host a meeting with President Obama and heads of state of the other Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, where the leaders can discuss our collective efforts to promote economic growth and development in Central America and our ongoing collaboration on citizen security.

We asked Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, to preview the upcoming trip and some of the issues the President would be discussing in his meetings. Check it out above or watch the video on YouTube.

Learn more about President Obama’s trip to Mexico and Costa Rica at whitehouse.gov.

About the Author: Colleen Curtis serves as Director of Digital Content at the White House.

President Obama today welcomed His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan to the White House, where the two leaders once again discussed the very urgent issues impacting that country, and the rest of the world.

President Obama met with the Jordanian leader last month on his trip to the Middle East, and this afternoon he thanked the King for his “extraordinary” hospitality, and praised his efforts to foster democratization, entrepreneurship and economic development inside Jordan. In remarks to the press before their bilateral meeting, the President said that he believes Jordan can be an “extraordinary model for effective governance in the region.”

But the main topic on today’s agenda was the ongoing crisis in Syria, including the impact it is having on Jordan, which has seen more than half a million refugees cross their border to escape the violence in their… more »

President Obama makes a statement on the explosions at today’s Boston Marathon from the briefing room at the White House on April 15, 2013.

BY JOHN KERRY | APRIL 8, 2013

Three years ago today — April 8, 2010 — President Obama and then-President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New START agreement to reduce American and Russian deployed strategic nuclear forces to their lowest levels since the days when Dwight Eisenhower was president and the Cold War defined our relationship with the Russians.

That December in the Senate, we clawed our way to ratification with 71 votes, a big bipartisan statement that the arms control and nonproliferation consensus could hold together even in a polarized political culture. That statement was reaffirmed by treaty supporters from Henry Kissinger and James Baker — and every other living secretary of state — to President George Herbert Walker Bush. MORE

This week, President Barack Obama is making the first trip of his second term; he will visit Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan March 20-23, 2013. The White House will beposting updates from the road and livestreaming several of the President’s events on whitehouse.gov/live, including:

Wednesday, March 20 (2:05 PM ET) — President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu hold a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem;

Thursday March 21 (11:00 AM ET) — President Obama delivers a speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center; and

Friday March 22 (11:45 AM ET) — President Obama and King Abdullah II of Jordan hold a press conference in… more »

On Tuesday, March 19, 2013, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Enda Kenny will participate in the Shamrock ceremony in the White House. The ceremony first began in 1952, when the Irish Ambassador sent a box of shamrock to President Truman. Watch the history of the ceremony in this video from U.S. Embassy Dublin.

President Obama Meets With the Sultan of Brunei

About the Author: Megan Slack serves at the White House.

On March 12, 2013, President Obama hosted His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office to affirm the relationship between our two countries that dates back more than 160 years.

The two leaders discussed their shared interest in a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Asia-Pacific region, and continued cooperation between our nations on a range of issues.

With Brunei set to host October’s ASEAN East Asia Summit meeting, President Obama said they would be working together on “everything from how we deal with issues of energy and climate change to how we expand commerce, potentially through the Trans-Pacific Partnership that has the opportunity of creating jobs and prosperity…more »

More: White House Blog — President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union

President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union address in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on February 12, 2013. In his remarks, President Obama addressed a number of foreign policy issues.

President Obama said, “Tonight, we stand united in saluting the troops and civilians who sacrifice every day to protect us. Because of them, we can say with confidence that America will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve our objective of defeating the core of al Qaeda.

“Already, we have brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and women. This spring, our forces will move into… more »

In a video message, President Barack Obama tells the people of Kenya that the upcoming elections are a historic opportunity for Kenyans to stand together, as a nation, for peace and progress, and for the rule of law.

President Obama announces an additional $155 million in humanitarian aid for those affected by the violence of the Assad regime. This aid from the American people is providing food, clean water, medicine, medical treatment, immunizations for children, clothing, and winter supplies for millions of people in need inside Syria and in neighboring countries.