Trump brings back tradition of iftar at White House
REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS HAD KEPT UP DINNER GATHERING FOR YEARS
US President Donald Trump will host a dinner in the coming week in honour of Ramadan, restoring a White House tradition that he had abandoned during his first year in office, a West Wing official said.
The dinner is expected to be held on Wednesday but the guest list was not made available.
The invitation comes after Trump broke decades of tradition by failing to host a Ramadan dinner at the White House in 2017, breaking a nearly 20-year tradition. The iftar dinner, which was reported earlier by Politico, will revive a tradition that Republican and Democratic presidents have carried out for years during Ramadan. Each of former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton held such dinners during their presidencies.
This year, the dinner will accompany the statement signed by Trump, which started off by saying: ‘I send my greetings and best wishes to all Muslims observing Ramadan in the United States and around the world… As so many people unite to celebrate Ramadan, Melania and I join in the hope for a blessed month. Ramadan Mubarak.” In the same statement, Trump said: “Ramadan reminds us of the richness Muslims add to the religious tapestry of American life.”
As president, Trump’s controversial travel ban has actually restricted citizens from several mostly Muslim countries from entering the US, and the US Supreme Court is reviewing the third version of Trump’s travel ban for “anti-Muslim intent”.
According to some who had heard of the planning, only about a few dozen people will be invited, and attendees primarily would be ambassadors from countries with large Muslim populations, and some US Muslim leaders.