US President Donald Trump hosted the first White House Ramadan Iftar dinner of his second term in office and expressed gratitude to “hundreds of thousands” of Muslim Americans for lending their support during the 2024 presidential election.
“As we are in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, let me begin by saying to our Muslim friends — Ramadan Mubarak,” said Trump in the State Dining Room.
The White House event was attended by Muslim community leaders, diplomats, including Pakistan Ambassador to US Rizwan Saeed, and government officials.
Trump said the Muslim community “was there for us in November”, referring to last year’s election, and vowed to “be there for you” in return.
“We’re keeping our promises to the Muslim community. My administration is engaged in relentless diplomacy to forge lasting peace in the Middle East, building on the historic Abraham Accords, which everybody said would be impossible, and now we’re going to start filling them out,” he added.
The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements that were signed between Israel and several Arab nations during the previous Trump presidency to normalise relations.
“We had the four great countries and nothing happened, despite the importance of the Abraham accords. But I have a feeling it’s going to fill out very quickly. People are talking about it already. They should have had long long ago. It should have been done.”
“All we want is peace,” he later added.
Many in the community voted against then-Vice President Kamala Harris to protest the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s war on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023, attacks. Some also credit Trump with orchestrating a ceasefire, even though it happened before he entered the White House.
Trump had repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to end the conflict, and a ceasefire was agreed upon shortly before he assumed office in January.
Israel, however, resumed its offensive on the besieged coastal enclave earlier this month, shattering the truce with attacks that have killed hundreds of Palestinians. Amid the unfolding tragedy, Trump has stood in lockstep with Israel and is seeking to supply the country with billions of dollars in new military assistance.
He has also controversially proposed taking ownership of Gaza and displacing the roughly 2 million Palestinians who live there so that the territory can be developed in his image. The proposal has been widely panned.
