Sunday, May 21, 2017
Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia
President Donald Trump says that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorist attacks are the “innocent people of the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations.”
Speaking at the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh today, Trump said that “95 percent of the victims of terrorist attacks are themselves Muslims.”
He said that terrorism must not only be measured by the number of dead, but the number of “vanished dreams.”
It’s a departure from his sometimes anti-Muslim rhetoric during his presidential campaign.
At the summit today, the president also said the U.S. seeks a “coalition of nations” in the Middle East with the aim of “stamping out extremism.”
Trump vowed to “strengthen America’s oldest friendships, and to seek new partners in pursuit of peace.”
He also promised “that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit cooperation and trust.”
King Salman of Saudi Arabia says he is committed to stamping out the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations.
At the summit today, he said “we all, peoples and countries, reject in every language and in every form damaging the relations of Muslim countries with friendly countries and profiling countries based on a religious or sectarian basis.”
He also railed against Iran, calling the country “the spearhead of global terrorism.”