Trump's first Ramadan and his good Muslims

Muslims were curious to find out how U.S. President Donald Trump was going to manage the holy month of Ramadan. Still today, the question at the back of Muslim minds is whether - as a sitting president - Trump is hostile to Islam or not. Muslim activists in the U.S. argue that his breaking away from the White House tradition of holding an iftar is a manifestation of his core beliefs, which are fundamentally disrespectful to Islam - to say the least. 

Since the beginning of Ramadan, my American colleagues have been eager to find out if an iftar with Trump would ever take place. After all, the president's previous record of a strong anti-Muslim stance during the election campaign hangs on there. He had pledged to kick all Syrian refugees out of the country, implied to consider closing down mosques and had infamously said things like "I think Islam hates us. We have to get to the bottom of it." 

Although he softened the tone a little since he took office back in January, his ambition for a travel ban on six Muslim nations (previously seven) still persists despite the blocking by several federal courts. He continues to use the term "radical Islamic terrorism" regardless of some key advisors around him strongly advising him not to. 

Trump did issue a statement to acknowledge Ramadan, although the content of the statement displayed a sharp drift from Ramadan messages of Barack Obama and even George W. Bush. Obama's last Ramadan message had tones of empathy for Muslim refugees who could not observe the holy month from the comfort of their homes. Bush in his first Ramadan message after 9/11 did not mention terrorism at all and rather focused on the diversity of the American Muslim community, which has a population of 3.3 million today.