Trump calls for unity in Saudi speech, denounces 'Islamic extremism, and the Islamicists, and Islamic terror of all kinds'

President Trump in Saudi Arabia
(Image credit: White House/Screenshot)

President Trump on Sunday delivered his much-anticipated speech on Islam and the war on terror before leaders representing 50 Muslim-majority nations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Trump began by announcing his intention to share "a message of friendship, hope, and love" in "the heart of the Muslim world," promising the United States would "not seek to impose our way of life on others."

He soon pivoted to the subject of terrorism, calling for cooperation and regional self-responsibility to fight "Islamic extremism, and the Islamicists, and Islamic terror of all kinds" (a list used in lieu of the "radical Islamic terrorism" phrase Trump touted on the campaign trail.) "We can only overcome this evil if the forces of good are united and strong, and if everyone in this room does their fair share and fulfills their part of the burden," Trump said. "Terrorism has spread all across the world, but the path to peace begins right here. … A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.