Trump Softens Tone on Islam But Calls for Purge of “Foot Soldiers of Evil”
The New York Times’s Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear report, “President Trump on Sunday pivoted away from his strident assessment of Islam as a religion of hatred as he sought to redefine American leadership in the Middle East and rally the Muslim world to join him in a renewed campaign against extremism.” Trump said of his campaign against Islamic extremism, “This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people, all in the name of religion, people that want to protect life and want to protect their religion.” On the campaign trail last year, President Trump insisted that Islam despises the United States and called for a “complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the country.