--- title: Donald Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia description: President Trump will deliver a speech about radical Islam to leaders of Muslim countries when he is in Saudi Arabia canonical: https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-16T19:00:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:17.611Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia og:description: The speech is supposed to be "inspiring yet direct" og:url: https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a990d9e275ffa27/6988cd7c0a4a2254429ce2e2/trump-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Trump Attends 36th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Serv og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia twitter:description: The speech is supposed to be "inspiring yet direct" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a990d9e275ffa27/6988cd7c0a4a2254429ce2e2/trump-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Trump and Clinton Talk About Challenges of Muslims as a Threat to the Country [Watch (HLS stream): Trump and Clinton Talk About Challenges of Muslims as a Threat to the Country](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/B3ZME9el.m3u8) (4:00)  _Published 2016-10-10. A showdown fraught with peril for both candidates_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 16, 2017 7:00 PM UTC  United States President Donald J. Trump makes remarks at the 36th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, May 15, 2017. United States President Donald J. Trump makes remarks at the 36th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, May 15, 2017. Chris Kleponis - Pool via CNP  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson May 16, 2017 7:00 PM UTC [President Trump](http://time.com/4780973/donald-trump-russia-leaks-hr-mcmaster/) will deliver a speech about radical Islam to leaders of Muslim countries when he is in Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip, the White House said Tuesday. The speech, said National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, will be “inspiring yet direct” about the need to confront radical ideology. “The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilization and to demonstrate America’s commitment to our Muslim partners,” said McMaster. It is unclear if any of the the leaders from the seven Muslim-majority countries Trump initially singled out in his first [executive order imposing a travel ban](http://time.com/4779387/president-donald-trump-travel-ban-court-of-appeals-2/) — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen — will be in attendance at the meeting. The second draft of the order removed Iraq from this list, and both are currently held up in court. The White House did not respond to questions about the countries in attendance. Saudi Arabia has invited Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who the International Criminal Court has a warrant for regarding war crimes in Darfur, to the summit with Trump, [according to the Associated Press.](https://www.apnews.com/951d765d37ad485cbcdabe9c40368500) McMaster said the speech would be given at a lunch with leaders of more than 50 Muslim countries, although he did not specify what leaders would be in attendance and from what countries. McMaster did say that Trump would be holding bilateral meeting with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, but none of those countries are part of that group. The speech will likely draw increased attention to what is already supposed to be a high profile trip, given his rhetoric about Muslims in the United States, which many pundits and Democrats have deemed discriminatory. Trump’s attempt to implement a travel ban followed his call on the campaign trail for a “complete and total shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. “The common thread linking the major Islamic terrorist attacks that have occurred on our soil — 9/11, the Ft. Hood shooting, the Boston bombing, the San Bernardino attack, the Orlando attack, is that they have involved immigrants or the children of immigrants,” he said in Ohio last summer. “Clearly new screening procedures are needed.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/"},"headline":"President Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia","datePublished":"2017-05-16T19:00:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:17.611Z","description":"The speech is supposed to be \"inspiring yet direct\"","url":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a990d9e275ffa27/6988cd7c0a4a2254429ce2e2/trump-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0a990d9e275ffa27/6988cd7c0a4a2254429ce2e2/trump-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Trump Attends 36th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Serv","caption":"Trump Attends 36th Annual National Peace Officers' Memorial Serv","creditText":"Chris Kleponis - Pool via CNP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/","name":"President Trump Will Give a Speech on Islam in Saudi Arabia"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump and Clinton Talk About Challenges of Muslims as a Threat to the Country","description":"A showdown fraught with peril for both candidates","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/B3ZME9el/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-10T02:44:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/B3ZME9el.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/","duration":"PT4M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4781153/donald-trump-islam-speech-saudi-arabia/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```