Trump holds first Iftar at the White House
Washington, June 7: US President Donald Trump hosted his first Iftar dinner at the White House during which he sought co-operation from the Muslim world to achieve a future of security and prosperity for all, a move that surprised many in the community after he skipped hosting such a party last year.
Last year, Trump broke with decades of precedent by not hosting the annual Iftar dinner a bipartisan tradition that formally began with Bill Clinton in the 1990s, but has conceptual roots tracing as far back as under Thomas Jefferson in 1805.
Trump, who has frequently engaged in antiMuslim rhetoric, wished Muslims around the world a “Ramzan Mubarak” — a blessed holiday and sought co-operation from them to achieve a future of security and prosperity for all.
“Only by working together can we achieve a future of security and prosperity for all,” Trump told a gathering of diplomats and officials at the iftar dinner last evening.
“For this reason, I was proud to make my first foreign trip as President to the heart of the Muslim world, where I addressed an assembly of more than 50 leaders of Muslimmajority countries. That was something,” he said.
“The partnership and solidarity that we established over the past year has only deepened with time. So many friendships. So many meetings, even in the Oval Office. And we’ve made a lot of progress, I think, a lot of tremendous progress,” Trump said.
After delivering his remarks, Trump sat on the head table which among others included Saudi Ambassador Prince Khalid Ben Salman and Jordanian envoy Dina Kawar. The Indonesian Ambassadors was also seated on the same table.
Envoys from several Muslim countries including the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Qatar, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Kuwait, Gambia, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Bosnia were invited.