Trump Urges Muslim Leaders to Purge Their Societies of ‘Foot Soldiers of Evil’ by Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear, New York Times
President Trump planned in a centerpiece speech on Sunday to rally leaders from around the Muslim world in a renewed campaign against extremism, rejecting the idea that the fight is a battle between religions even as he has promised not to chastise them about human rights violations in their own countries.
Mr. Trump, who during last year’s presidential campaign said he thought that “Islam hates us” and proposed a ban on all Muslims entering the United States, will sound different themes, according to prepared text of the speech. While declaring terrorism to be a “battle between good and evil,” he planned to say that it should be fought by “decent people of all religions.”
The White House released advance excerpts from the speech on the second day of Mr. Trump’s inaugural trip overseas as president. His team intended the speech to be the centerpiece of his stop here in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, where he was meeting with Arab leaders and convening a larger gathering of Muslim leaders.
In effect, the speech was meant as a reset from the harsher tone and policies Mr. Trump adopted as a candidate last year and in the early days of his presidency…