Several radical Islamist extremists say they are thrilled with Donald Trump's victory, and hope it ushers in an era of chaos for the United States.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a senior al Qaeda member, used Twitter to share his thoughts on the win, The Guardian reports. "Trump reveals the real mentality of the Americans and their racism toward Muslims and Arabs and everything," he said. "He only reveals what his predecessors have kept hidden." A Syrian radical named Abdullah al-Muhaisny, believed by the U.S. to have a connection to al Qaeda, tweeted that Trump's win is an "important step toward the victory of the Sunnis. We have long tried to explain that the fight is not against terrorism, but against the Sunnis, and the mujahideen are just the frontline. The American strategy will not change much, what has changed is that the war is open and not secret, and that is a good thing."
Trump will set the path for "bloody battles and great chaos," al-Muhaisny said, and he is hoping that Trump's "exclusion and crushing opponents" will cause a greater divide in the U.S. Trump's words may soon even be used as propaganda — the head of the Twitter account of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the former wing of al Qaeda in Syria, said now, "we will no longer need videos explaining the West's plots. We will only need to retweet what Trump says."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
