Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Trump calls to extinguish ‘extremism’
U.S. president requests aid of Muslims during address
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump on Sunday implored Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries to extinguish “Islamic extremism” emanating from the region, describing a “battle between good and evil” rather than a clash between the West and Islam.
“We are not here to lecture — we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship,” Trump said, speaking in an ornate room in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. “Instead, we are here to offer partnership — based on shared interests and values — to pursue a better future for us all.”
The president’s address was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, part of his first overseas trip since his January swearing-in. For Trump, the trip is a reprieve from the series of controversies that have marred his young presidency as well as an attempt to reset his relationship with a region and a religion he criticized in the past.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump mused about his belief that “Islam hates us.” But on Sunday, standing before dozens of regional leaders, he said Islam was “one of the world’s great faiths.”
While running for the job he now holds, Trump criticized President Barack Obama for not using the term “radical Islamic terrorism” and said that refusal indicated Obama did not understand America’s enemy. In his Sunday speech, Trump condemned “Islamic extremism,” “Islamists” and “Islamic terror,” but he didn’t utter the precise phrase he pressed Obama on.
Some of Trump’s wording on the issue also changed from his prepared remarks. A White House official later said that was not intended and attributed it to the president being “an exhausted guy.”
Trump made no mention of the disputed travel order, signed days after he took office, that temporarily banned immigration to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Both the original order and a second directive that dropped Iraq from the banned list have been blocked by the courts.
In some ways, Trump delivered a conventional speech for an American politician. He pledged deeper ties with the Middle East to tackle terrorism and encouraged more economic development in the region. He heralded the ambitions of the region’s youth and warned that the scourge of extremism could tarnish their future.
Trump offered few indications of whether he planned to shift U.S. policy to better fight terrorism. There were no promises of new financial investment or announcements of increased U.S. military presence in the region. The president put much of the onus for combating extremists on Mideast leaders. “Drive them out of your places of worship,” he said. “Drive them out of your communities.”
White House officials said they considered Trump’s address to be a counterweight to Obama’s debut speech to the Muslim world, which took place in 2009 in Cairo. Obama called for understanding and acknowledged some of the U.S.’ missteps in the region. His speech was denounced by many Republicans and criticized by a number of Middle East allies as being a sort of apology.
Trump’s remarks Sunday came in a meeting with dozens of regional leaders who gathered in Riyadh for a summit with Trump and Saudi King Salman.
The king has lavished praise and all the trappings of a royal welcome on the new American president, welcoming in particular Trump’s pledge to be tougher on Iran than Obama was. Indeed, when they addressed their fellow leaders, Trump and Salman were in lockstep on the threat Iran poses to the region: Trump accused Iran of “destruction and chaos,” and the king said Saudi Arabia’s rival “has been the spearhead of global terrorism.”
The king on Sunday said Saudi Arabia had not witnessed terrorism until the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Instead of seeking goodfaith initiatives, Iran has “pursued expansionary ambitions, and criminal practices and the meddling of other countries’ internal affairs,” he said. The kingdom, however, respects the Iranian people and won’t judge them “by the crimes of their regime,” he said.
Trump later singled out Iran as a terror sponsor. Iran’s leaders speak “openly” of mass murder, Trump said in his speech. He said the Iranian government gives terrorists “safe harbor, financial backing and the social standing needed for recruitment.”
The remarks came a day after Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric who helped secure a 2015 nuclear deal with Western powers, easily defeated a conservative rival to win a second term. His victory was seen as dealing a blow to hard-liners who had opposed Rouhani’s engagement with the West. In a televised address to the nation, Rouhani said Iranians had shown they wanted “engagement with the world” instead of extremism.
Saudi Arabia and Iran are on opposite sides of major regional conflicts in Syria and in Yemen, where the kingdom has been leading a coalition since March 2015 against Shiite rebels backed by Tehran. Saudi Arabia and Iran were close U.S. allies before the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran.
The Saudis’ warm embrace of Trump was welcomed by a White House that has faced questions at home. Officials spent the days before Trump’s departure dealing with a steady stream of revelations about the federal investigation into his campaign’s possible ties to Russia and the fallout from his firing of FBI Director James Comey.
The president has largely stuck to the script for the opening days of the trip. Apart from Sunday’s address, he’s made no substantial remarks, other than exchanging pleasantries with other leaders.
BUILDING TIES
Before the speech, Trump held individual meetings with leaders of several nations, including Egypt and Qatar.
His meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi underscored their burgeoning bond. Trump praised el-Sissi for the April release of Egyptian-American charity worker Aya Hijazi, detained in the country for nearly three years.
Trump also praised the Egyptian leader for what he said were successful efforts to fight terrorism under “trying circumstances.”
El-Sissi invited Trump to visit him in Egypt, adding, “You are a unique personality that is capable of doing the impossible.” As the participants laughed, Trump responded: “I agree.”
The president then complimented el-Sissi’s choice of footwear. “Love your shoes. Boy, those shoes,” Trump said after their brief remarks to the media.
Earlier in the day, he promised the king of Bahrain that ties will improve under his administration. “There won’t be strain with this relationship,” Trump said. Later, sitting next to Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Trump said the two would discuss “the purchase of lots of beautiful military equipment, because nobody makes it like the United States.”
He also met the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who referred to the president as “my brother Trump.” Trump said Kuwait buys “tremendous amounts of our military equipment,” adding that means “jobs, jobs, jobs.”
The grand reception in Riyadh reflected a desire by Gulf Arab leaders to reset relations with the U.S. after eight years of frosty ties with Obama, who made reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran a top priority of his presidency.
Trump cut short his program in Saudi Arabia, abruptly skipping an event aimed at highlighting how social media can be used to combat extremism. He sent his daughter Ivanka instead.
NEXT STOP: ISRAEL
Trump travels to Israel today, having previously offered few indications of how he plans to achieve what so many of his predecessors could not — brokering peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Trump has handed son-inlaw Jared Kushner and longtime business lawyer Jason Greenblatt the assignment of charting the course toward a peace process. The White House-driven effort is a sharp shift from the practice of previous U.S. administrations that typically gave those responsibilities to the secretary of state.
Kushner and Greenblatt were to accompany Trump on his two-day visit, which is to include separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Trump also planned to visit the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and the Western Wall, an important Jewish holy site.
On the eve of Trump’s visit, Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved several measures, including construction permits for Palestinians in parts of the West Bank that had previously been off limits, a senior official said. Under interim agreements, 60 percent of the West Bank — known as Area C, the site of Israel’s settlements — is under Israeli control, and Palestinian development there has mostly been forbidden.
Speaking on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, the official said the package also includes economic concessions and the opening of the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.
White House aides have downplayed expectations for significant progress on the peace process during Trump’s stop, casting it as more symbolic than substantive. Yet Trump may still need to engage in some delicate diplomacy after revelations that he disclosed to top Russian officials, without Israel’s permission, some highly classified intelligence Israel obtained about the Islamic State militant group.
Israel also has expressed concern about the $110 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia that Trump announced Saturday in Riyadh. Yuval Steinitz, a Cabinet minister and Netanyahu confidant, called Saudi Arabia “a hostile country” and said the deal was “definitely something that should trouble us.”
Although Israeli officials cheered Trump’s election, some are now wary of the tougher line he has taken on settlements: urging restraint but not calling for a full halt to construction. Trump has so far not followed through on a campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, bending to the same diplomatic and security concerns as other presidents who have made similar promises.
Palestinians, who viewed Trump’s victory with some trepidation, are said to have been pleasantly surprised by Trump’s openness during a recent meeting with Abbas in Washington.
A senior official who was part of the Palestinian delegation said Trump is planning to try to relaunch peace talks, with a goal of reaching an agreement within a year. The Trump administration rejected a request from the Palestinians to push for an Israeli settlement freeze, but promised to sort out the issue during peace negotiations, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Jibril Rajoub, a senior Palestinian official close to Abbas, said Trump was a “serious president” who “seeks to have a real deal, not just managing the conflict.”
David Friedman, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, told the newspaper Israel Hayom that Trump’s goal at the start is simply “to begin a discussion that would hopefully lead to peace.”
Friedman on Sunday attended with Netanyahu a celebration of Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war.
The area is home to sensitive religious sites, including the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. Israeli officials are on edge over the U.S.’ refusal to say the Western Wall is part of Israel.
Israel considers the entire city of Jerusalem to be its capital. The international community says the fate of east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians, must be resolved through negotiations.
The most recent round of peace talks, led by Obama and his secretary of state, John Kerry, fell apart in 2014.
Israeli officials say they are largely in the dark about what ideas Trump might present for peace or what concessions he may demand. Hard-liners who dominate Netanyahu’s government grew particularly concerned when White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster voiced support earlier this month for Palestinian “self-determination.”