Trump’s address to Muslims condemns ‘Islamic extremism’
Speaks of shared battle on terror without ‘radical,’ which he used during campaign
USA TODAY RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA President Donald Trump urged leaders of Muslim countries to stand up against what he called “Islamic extremism” Sunday, adopting a tough stance on terror that nonetheless attempts to soften the anti-Muslim rhetoric of his campaign for president.
The use of that terminology appears to be something of a compromise: During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized President Barack Obama for refusing to utter the words “radical Islamic terrorism” — a phrase Obama said would alienate the Muslim allies that the United States most needs to combat terrorism.
In an ornate conference hall in the Saudi capital, speaking to a group of leaders from 50 Islamic nations, Trump called on Muslims to confront “the crisis of Islamic extremism and the Islamist and Islamic terror of all kinds.”
That means “standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians,” Trump said at the Arab Islamic American Summit.
But Trump also rejected the “clash of civilizations” rhetoric espoused by some of his more nationalistic advisers. His chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, has called Islam “the most radical religion” in the world and warned of a “major shooting war” in the Middle East.
White House aides said different teams of speechwriters had been working on as many as five different drafts of the speech, and Trump worked to join them into one address.
The result was a speech clearly directed at two audiences — the leaders assembled in Riyadh for the summit and Americans back home.
“America is a sovereign nation, and our first priority is always the safety and security of our citizens,” Trump said. To reconcile those “America first” policies with his attempts to build global coalitions, Trump promised that U.S. foreign policy would be guided by what he called “principled realism.”
To the Muslim leaders, Trump said the United States will seek “gradual reforms — not sudden intervention” in areas like human rights.
“We are not here to lecture,” Trump said, echoing a common conservative critique of Obama’s foreign policy speeches. “We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship. Instead, we are here to offer partnership — based on shared interests and values — to pursue a better future for all of us.”
Trump’s much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world came amid a nine-day foreign trip.
In one-on-one meetings with the leaders of Bahrain, Qatar, Egypt and Kuwait, Trump hawked American-made military equipment in an effort to have those countries pay for a greater share of their own defense.
On Saturday, he inked a $110 billion arms sales agreement with Saudi Arabia, a deal the White House said would create U.S. jobs and have Saudi Arabia begin to take more responsibility for regional security.
Trump also signed an agreement with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — on terrorism financing.
Deputy National Security Adviser Dina Powell described the agreement as the “farthestreaching commitment” to date on cutting off funding for terrorism, with the Gulf countries agreeing to work closely with the U.S. Treasury Department.
“The unique piece of it is that every single one of them are signatories on how they’re responsible and will actually prosecute the financing of terrorism, including individuals,” she said.