Contradictions add up during Trump's Saudi visit

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump railed against President Barack Obama for failing to utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism."

The president now finds himself adjusting to the nuances of Middle East diplomacy, where inflammatory campaign slogans — no matter how popular among some voters — can be the cause of major disruptions now that he holds office.

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, at the start of his first trip abroad as president, has produced a number of statements that run counter to the harsh, anti-Muslim rhetoric from his 2016 campaign.

While many presidents adjust their commentary once they depart the campaign trail and travel abroad, Trump's speech to Gulf Arab leaders featured a much softer tone than his large-scale rallies last year.

Trump routinely railed against Obama and Democratic campaign rival Hillary Clinton for failing to use the specific phrase, "radical Islamic terrorism."

Obama had declined to use the term because he said he didn't want to connect terrorist groups like the Islamic State to the religion of Islam and said it would unnecessarily anger Arab allies fighting terrorism and alienate Muslims at home.

Trump called on Muslim leaders to address "the crisis of Islamic extremists" and referenced "the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds."

Trump struck a far less caustic tone in Sunday's speech, expressing that young Muslim boys and girls should be able to grow up free from fear, safe from violence, and innocent of hatred.

In a June 2016 posting on Facebook, Trump said, Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays.

The World Bank announced Sunday at an event with Trump's daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had pledged $100 million for the bank's proposed Women Entrepreneurs Fund, which was first proposed by Ivanka Trump.

First lady Melania Trump and the president's eldest daughter Ivanka showed off their locks, following in the footsteps, not only of Michelle Obama, but of female leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May.