President Trump visits the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Could 15, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, and RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump visited a mosque on Thursday — his first publicly recognized go to to a Muslim home of worship throughout his time in workplace.
His go to to the United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was only one cease on a bigger diplomatic tour by way of the Center East, the primary main international journey of his second time period.
Trump eliminated his sneakers throughout his go to, as is customary in mosques, and was escorted by Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.
“Is not this lovely? It’s so lovely,” Trump mentioned. “That is an unbelievable tradition.”
The landmark mosque is understood for its white marble domes and Italian-marbled flooring with coloured flower inlays. It’s a in style cultural vacation spot for vacationers, politicians and movie star guests to Abu Dhabi.
Yousif al-Obaidli, the director basic of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, accompanies President Trump on a tour of the mosque in Abu Dhabi on Could 15, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP
Trump and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the UAE’s ruler who greeted Trump upon his arrival within the nation, have shut ties, partially constructed on the UAE’s choice to normalize relations with Israel in a landmark deal throughout Trump’s first time period in workplace.
His go to to the UAE is the third cease on his Center East tour that started with two days of lavish ceremonies in his honor in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In every nation, Trump was given a ceremonial welcome with Arabian horses and honor guards.
Trump has intensive household enterprise pursuits in all three nations, the place Trump-branded towers and golf programs are being developed. A UAE fund additionally used the Trump household’s cryptocurrency enterprise referred to as World Liberty Monetary to shut a $2 billion funding in crypto alternate Binance.
President Trump excursions the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and mosque officers Dr. Yousef Al-Obaidi and Ameena Alhammadi, on Could 15, 2025.
Win McNamee/Getty Photos Europe
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Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, every visited the mosque in 2020, throughout Trump’s first time period whereas they had been each working as administration officers.
Joe Biden went to the mosque on a 2016 journey, when he was vice chairman.
Trump will not be recognized to have visited any mosques in america as president. It is attainable he has been to a mosque in his personal life, although NPR was unable to substantiate that.
Whereas it’s normal for U.S. presidents to go to church buildings, only some have made official visits to mosques, in keeping with the White Home Historic Affiliation. President Dwight Eisenhower opened a Washington, D.C. mosque in 1957, and former President George W. Bush spoke on the identical mosque in 2001 after the 9/11 assaults. In 2016, former President Barack Obama visited a mosque close to Baltimore.
Trump, operating for workplace in 2016, recommended with out proof that hateful concepts come out of mosques and repeatedly recommended they be positioned below surveillance. And when he took workplace, Trump made good on a promise to ban journey from some Muslim-majority nations.
However he has since moderated his tone. Within the November election, Arab and Muslim voters helped ship the important thing swing state of Michigan to Trump — partially by casting ballots for third-party candidates. Lots of them expressed disappointment with the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering assist for Israel’s struggle in Gaza, regardless of tens of hundreds of civilian causalities.
“The Muslim neighborhood was there for us in November. And whereas I am president, I will likely be there for you,” Trump mentioned in March at a White Home iftar throughout Ramadan.
Since his inauguration, although, his already-fraught relationship with Muslim voters seems to have soured. A ceasefire within the Israel-Hamas struggle brokered within the remaining days of Biden administration has collapsed. Residents of the Gaza strip haven’t been capable of obtain help for weeks due to an Israeli blockade. Domestically, the administration has detained Muslim residents as a part of his bigger immigration crackdown, arresting a number of Muslim faculty college students who spoke out in assist of Palestinian rights.
Throughout his go to to the UAE, Trump once more floated the concept — unpopular with Arab leaders — of taking management of the Gaza Strip.
“I might be proud to have america have it, take it, make it a freedom zone, let some good issues occur,” Trump mentioned.
The president is slated to wrap up his Center East journey on Friday.
President Trump visits the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on Could 15, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP
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Brendan Smialowski/AFP
