Story highlights Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia Saturday

His speech is aimed at uniting against terrorism

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CNN) President Donald Trump looked to make clear that the United States is not at war with Islam in a major speech here on Sunday, instead defining the battle against terrorist groups as a "battle between good and evil" as he urged Muslim-majority countries to redouble their counterterrorism efforts.

"This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations," Trump said. "This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. This is a battle between good and evil."

In a departure from the Islamophobic rhetoric he sometimes deployed on the campaign trail , Trump acknowledged that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorism are Muslim, calling Islam "one of the world's great faiths." He also dismissed "Islamists" as the "footsoldiers of evil," with no religious legitimacy, effectively putting distance between Islam and the ideology that fuels terrorist groups like ISIS.

While Trump promised that he was "not here to lecture" the Muslim world, his speech went beyond outreach. In his most forceful argument on Sunday, Trump exhorted Muslim-majority countries to do more to eradicate terrorist groups that claim the mantle of Islam, urging Muslims to "drive out" terrorists.

"Drive them out," Trump said. "Drive out the terrorists. Drive out the extremists. Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this Earth."

Read More