By The Times (UK) –
President Trump issued a call to arms to the Muslim world on his first foreign trip, urging it to lead the way in a war against Islamic State and other extremist groups. He said the campaign was a “battle between good and evil”.
In his most important foreign policy speech as president, he told Muslim leaders gathered in the Saudi Arabian capital to “drive out the terrorists from your places of worship”.
Reversing the hostile rhetoric of his election campaign, Mr Trump described Saudi Arabia, which he accused last year of responsibility for the events of 9/11, as a “magnificent kingdom” and said that Islam was “one of the world’s great faiths”.
His political and religious realignment was an attempt to restore the traditional alliance between the Arab world, particularly the Gulf monarchies, and the United States, which has been frayed on both sides in recent years.
The visit was sweetened by $110 billion of arms deals signed during his two days in the kingdom. Mr Trump is accompanied by his wife, Melania, his daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner.
The president also joined a strong attack on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main strategic rival. “From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms, and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region,” he said.
Mr Trump is due in Israel today on the next leg of a trip that will also take him to the Vatican, and the homes of the three main monotheistic religions.
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https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/trump-urges-muslims-to-join-battle-between-good-and-evil-kwwtttrfd
Photo: President Trump opens the World Centre for Countering Extremist Thought in Riyadh with President Sisi of Egypt, left, and King Salman. EPA