Trump just made a historic visit to a holy site in Jerusalem

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Donald Trump at the Western Wall

Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump at the Western Wall on Monday, May 22, 2017.

On Monday, President Donald Trump became the first sitting American president to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a sacred prayer site for Jews, during his five-day trip to the Middle East and Europe.

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The visit was preceded by some tension after a member of the Trump administration reportedly told Israeli officials that the Western Wall is located in the West Bank, rather than in Israel.

Both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital city - and the Western Wall is a prominent symbol of this dispute, as it runs next to one of the holiest sites in Islam, the Al Aqsa Mosque.

An administration spokesman said the reported comments from the American official "do not reflect the US position, and certainly not the president's position." But the White House has not made its position on the matter clear.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly vowed to move the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but has backed away from that promise since taking office.

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