RIYADH—President Donald Trump, who has frequently aired views hostile to Islam, is traveling to the religion’s cradle in a trip intended to shore up his ties with the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet for Mr. Trump, who arrives in Riyadh on Saturday for a two-day visit that marks the start of his first foreign trip as president. The capital’s wide avenues are lined with Saudi and American flags and billboards featuring King Salman and Mr. Trump, and a ubiquitous slogan: “Together We Prevail.”
The visit, aimed at cementing ties with a key strategic ally, will also include a meeting with leaders of around 40 Muslim-majority nations to discuss how to combat religious extremism, during which Mr. Trump is expected to deliver a speech about Islam.
Saudi Arabia could be a formidable ally in shaping how Mr. Trump’s policies are viewed in the Middle East in the wake of a campaign in which he called for a halt on Muslims entering the U.S. As president, he called for ban on travel from seven Muslim-majority countries.
“People say a lot of things in campaigns. I do not believe for a minute that President Trump is anti-anything,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir said. Mr. Trump’s decision to travel to Saudi Arabia, he said, “speaks volumes about his desire to turn the relationship with the Islamic world into a partnership.”
But the tension over Mr. Trump’s comments during the campaign and his executive orders banning travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries puts some of America’s Muslim allies in an awkward position. The latest version of the ban is currently blocked by the courts.
Tariq Bakhiet, the spokesman for the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a Jeddah-based group, said the visit is a sign that Mr. Trump isn’t hostile to Islam. But he said the group remains concerned about the travel ban.
“Such selective and discriminatory acts will only serve to embolden the radical narratives of extremists,” he said.
The American and Saudi flags were displayed Thursday on a billboard in Riyadh ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi king’s role as custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites has long given the monarchy clout on religious matters far beyond the country’s borders.
Mr. Trump’s predecessor, former President Barack Obama, also had high hopes for resetting U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Within six months of being sworn into office, Mr. Obama gave a speech in Cairo entitled, “A New Beginning.”
But the Obama administration often clashed with allies over regional policy, and was unable to make progress toward a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Mr. Trump has set as a priority that he hopes to pursue by encouraging stronger ties between Gulf states and Israel.
In advance of the trip, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, said the president’s speech “is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilization and to demonstrate America’s commitment to our Muslim partner.”
Iraqi men watched a broadcast of President Barack Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo.
Among the aides involved in crafting Mr. Trump’s speech, said an administration official, is Stephen Miller, who also helped draft the executive order on travel.
Saudi Arabia, which is majority Sunni Muslim, sees the U.S. as a vital partner in confronting its chief regional rival, Iran, which is predominantly Shiite Muslim. The kingdom is keen to develop a strong rapport with the Trump administration, which has been critical of the 2015 nuclear deal Iran struck with the U.S. and other world powers.
Warming to what they see as a friendly White House, Saudi officials have defended Mr. Trump’s more controversial policies, including the sensitive issue of the travel ban.
Yet Iran has deep ties with both Syria and Iraq, and clashing with Tehran could complicate the campaign in those countries against Islamic State, which Mr. Trump has also set as a priority. Iranians are voting Friday in an election that will determine whether the moderate incumbent or a hard-line challenger will be the country’s next president.
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