“This is the president asking questions, listening, learning, and of course the president will call it whatever he wants to call it,” White House National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster says. | Getty McMaster: Trump might not use the phrase 'radical Islamic terror' in Saudi address

President Donald Trump may refrain from using the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” in a speech to Middle Eastern leaders in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, White House National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster suggested.

In an interview on ABC News’ “The Week” to be broadcast Sunday, McMaster was vague on the language Trump is likely to use in his highly anticipated address, and did not confirm the president’s precise wording.


“This is the president asking questions, listening, learning, and of course the president will call it whatever he wants to call it,” he said.

Trump’s references to “radical Islamic terrorism” often won him praise during the 2016 presidential election from supporters who backed his break from the precedents set by former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in avoiding the term.

McMaster added, “Whatever we call it, we recognize that these are not religious people and in fact, these enemies of all civilization."

“What they want to do is to cloak their criminal behavior under some false idea of a religious war.”

Trump is traveling in Saudi Arabia as part of a nine-day foreign trip that also includes Israel, Italy and Belgium.

In a briefing last week, McMaster praised Trump’s ambitious first overseas trip as president.

"No President has ever visited the homelands and holy sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslims faiths all on one trip," he said.