Trump wishes Muslims a ‘joyful Ramadan’ while urging rejection of violence by Islamist extremists

Trump last year called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States

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US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump arrive for a concert of La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina during the Heads of State and of Government G7 summit. Trump greeted Muslims celebrating the holy month of fasting a ‘joyful Ramadan.’ Photo: AFP

Published: 1:30am, 27 May 2017Updated: 1:37pm, 27 May 2017

US President Donald Trump wished Muslims “a joyful Ramadan,” on Friday, urging them to use the holy month to reject violence by Islamist extremists.

“On behalf of the American people, I would like to wish all Muslims a joyful Ramadan,” said Trump, who is winding up a first overseas trip as president that included a stop in Saudi Arabia.

“This year, the holiday begins as the world mourns the innocent victims of barbaric terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom and Egypt, acts of depravity that are directly contrary to the spirit of Ramadan,” said the US leader, who campaigned last year on a pledge to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

“Such acts only steel our resolve to defeat the terrorists and their perverted ideology,” he said in his message to the world’s estimated 1.6 billion Muslims.

A worker decorates the seaside yard of a coffee shop on the main beach road, one day ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, in Gaza City, on Friday, May 26, 2017. Muslims throughout the world are preparing to celebrate Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, refraining from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset. Photo: AP

Trump said that when he met dozens of leaders of Muslim countries in the Saudi capital Riyadh, he had vowed to stand with them to counter “terrorism and the ideology that fuels it.”