Updated May 22, 2017 13:30:00

A photograph of Donald Trump with his hands on a glowing orb was one of the most striking images from the US President's weekend visit to Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman gathered around a luminescent sphere, in a tableau which drew comparisons to scenes from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter on social media.

But no, this isn't the Eye of Sauron or some gadget from Dumbledore's study.

During his first presidential trip to Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump, along with King Salman and Mr el-Sisi, were opening the new Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology.

The simultaneous touching of the ornamental globe signified the official start to the facility's operations, and appears to have been intended as a gesture of solidarity for peace and shared values.

Photo: This is what the Globe inside the Global Centre actually looks like up close — totally harmless right? (Reuters: Jonathan Ernst)

The centre has employed data analysts from across the world to monitor and analyse extremist propaganda and communications on both traditional and online platforms.

The opening of the centre followed Mr Trump's major speech in which he called on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a "crisis of Islamic extremism" emanating from the region.

Mr Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders who have set aside his past campaign rhetoric, instead focusing on his desire to crack down on Iran.

In 2016 Mr Trump declared that "Islam hates us".

But on Sunday, standing before dozens of Muslim world leaders, he said Islam was "one of the world's great faiths".

Topics: internet-culture, donald-trump, world-politics, government-and-politics, terrorism, saudi-arabia, united-states

First posted May 22, 2017 10:17:31