Terror strike could change tone of Trump’s trip
JERUSALEM — President Donald Trump headed on Tuesday to Europe, where a devastating attack at a pop music concert in Manchester, England, grimly underscored his demand that Arab and Muslim countries drive extremists “out of this earth” and offered the first real test of how the president responds to a searing terror strike.
The second half of Trump’s foreign trip was intended to provide a platform for him to explain how his “America First” vision would affect global trade, the war in Afghanistan, the Syrian civil war and the future of NATO and the European Union.
But the attack, for which the Islamic State group claimed responsibility Tuesday, seemed certain to scramble the rest of the trip. White House officials said the president’s schedule would proceed as planned. But his interactions with the Continent’s leaders will be dominated by an urgent discussion about the security of public spaces and the world’s response to extremism.
That shift in topic could play into Trump’s political agenda at home, where he has repeatedly called for more restrictions on refugees and immigrants. And it could help the president make the case to world leaders for a more aggressive pursuit of terrorists.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Trump called the bombing at the concert, which killed nearly two dozen people and wounded scores, a “very horrible morning of death.” He called on nations around the world to unite against a “tragedy of epic proportions” resulting from terrorist attacks, and to act against those who commit acts of terror.
“This is what I’ve spent these last few days talking about in our trip overseas,” Trump said after a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. “We cannot stand a moment longer for the slaughter of innocent people.”
Yaakov Peri, a former head of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, said on Israeli television Tuesday morning that “the tragic attack in Manchester plays favorably for Trump, who in Saudi Arabia said that we will fight terror together.”
It was clear by the time Trump wrapped up his discussions in Israel and boarded Air Force One for Rome that the tenor of his trip had changed drastically.
Trump, who had largely avoided his provocative tweets since leaving on his foreign trip, posted one that included the flags of the United States and Britain. “We stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom,” he wrote.