Today President Trump will arrive in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, his first overseas trip as president. Though Trump portrayed Muslims in a negative light throughout his nationalist campaign, he intends to give a new message to the birthplace of Islam.
In a speech to leaders of approximately 50 Muslim countries on Sunday, Trump will encourage religious tolerance. He also plans to invite Muslims to join the United States in fighting against global terrorism.
According to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, it is “an inspiring, yet direct, speech on the need to confront radical ideology. [The president] hopes for a peaceful vision of Islam to dominate across the world.”
“The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilization,” continued McMaster. “[It will] demonstrate America’s commitment to our Muslim partners.”
Trump’s speech entirely contradicts his suggested policies relating to Islam. Throughout his campaign, Trump supported anti-Muslim sentiments. He also proposed banning Muslims from immigrating to the United States. In December 2015, he specifically called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. It is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension.”
Trump also advised against allowing Muslim refugees into the country in order to protect Americans from being attacked. In an interview in October 2015, Trump stated that Syrian refugees “could be the greatest Trojan horse. This could make the Trojan horse look like peanuts if these people turned out to be a lot of ISIS.”
In a March 2016 interview with CNN, Trump reasserted his belief that “Islam hates us… There’s a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There’s an unbelievable hatred of us.”
Even more, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller is writing the speech for Trump’s visit to Riyadh. Miller accompanied Trump on his campaign trail and wrote many of his speeches.
In these speeches, Miller promoted a nationalist ideology, stating that immigration should only be permitted for people who share America’s values. He also is the author and public face of Trump’s travel ban, which forbids people from six (initially seven) majority-Muslim countries from coming to America.
Miller’s anti-Islam rhetoric traces back to his high school and college days. In his early writings, Miller argued that no matter how “peaceful and benign” Muslims claim to be, they “cannot change the fact that millions of radical Muslims would celebrate your death for the simple reason that you are Christian, Jewish or American.”
As a student at Duke University, Miller created a ‘Terrorism Awareness Project’ as well, warning of ‘Islamofascism.’ He proclaimed that there was a “holy war being waged against us.”
Consequentially, many Middle Eastern residents have set the bar incredibly low for Trump’s visit. “No one is going into this thinking that Trump is good on Islam,” said Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow and U.S.-Islamic relations specialist at the Bookings Institution. “We’re all going into it with the opposite idea.”
However, “those low expectations might work in Trump’s favor because as long as he takes care to avoid saying something terribly offensive, it might be seen as neutral or even positive,” continued Hamid.
Tomorrow’s speech will add to the list of campaign positions Trump has reversed since becoming President. According to Elliot Abrams, a former national security official for George W. Bush, Trump “has changed his position on lots of matters… so there’s no particular reason he can’t say whatever he wants to say.”
As a predecessor to his now tolerant tone towards Islam, Trump signed a religious liberty executive order earlier this month. During the signing, Trump called the United States “a nation of tolerance,” celebrating religious freedom.
With his speech in Saudi Arabia, Trump intends to continue this message of tolerance. He hopes the speech will “construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies.”
Despite Trump’s anti-Muslim campaign and actions, as well as comments in a 2016 Facebook post criticizing Saudi Arabia, many of the Muslim leaders in Riyadh seem to be receptive to Trump’s new message. They have mostly forgiven Trump for his offensive rhetoric and plan to welcome him with great celebration.
According to Abdel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, “Leaders of Arab and Islamic nations and the United States recognize the importance of strong and enduring partnerships to confront the threat of violent extremism.”
“There are many who try to find gaps between the policy of the United States and that of Saudi Arabia,” continued al-Jubeir. “But they never will succeed. The position of President Trump, and that of Congress is completely aligned with that of Saudi Arabia.”
After spending two days in Riyadh, Trump will continue his tour through the Middle East and Europe.
