President Donald Trump dropped some of his harsh talk about Islam in a speech on Sunday (Monday AEST), as he urged leaders of the Muslim world not to wait for the United States but to act on their own to root out terrorism.
Notably, the speech did not include the words “radical Islamic terrorism”, a term he used as recently as February in his first speech to Congress, though he did use the phrases “Islamic extremism” and “Islamic terror”.
For most, he said, violence does not stem from Islam or any other religion.
“Every time a terrorist murders an innocent person, and falsely invokes the name of God, it should be an insult to every person of faith,” he said.
In the first major foreign policy speech of his presidency, Trump’s tone was notably softer from the harsh rhetoric about Islam that characterised his election campaign. Reading from prepared remarks, he spoke of the “peace and tolerance of all faiths” and praised the Middle East’s beauty and culture.
He urged leaders to act for the good of their citizens.
“The nations of the Middle East cannot wait for American power to crush this enemy for them,” Trump said. “The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their countries, and for their children.”
Read the full article by Anita Kumar at The Australian Financial Review.