WASHINGTON – In his first foreign speech in Saudi Arabia, President Trump is expected to soften his rhetoric on “radical Islamic terrorism” and instead call for unity among faiths to fight against “evil.”

“This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations,” Trump is expected to say according to White House speech excerpts. “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.”

President Trump was once a fierce critic of Hillary Clinton and President Obama for declining to wage war on “radical Islamic terrorism.” As a candidate he called for a Muslim ban and once declared “Islam hates us.” But excerpts suggest Trump is moderating his stance and is expected to use the softer phrasing of “Islamist” extremism.

Trump is expected to call for “honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires,” according to excerpts.“And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians.”

White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster already hinted that Trump may give up phrase that was common on the campaign trail while traveling in the Muslim country.

“The president will call it whatever he wants to call it,” McMaster said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “But I think it’s important that 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 this false idea of kind of a religious war.”

Trump will call for all religious leaders to preach against terrorism.

“Religious leaders must make this absolutely clear: Barbarism will deliver you no glory – piety to evil will bring you no dignity,” Trump is expected to say. “If you choose the path of terror, your life will be empty, your life will be brief, and your soul will be condemned.”

The major speech in Saudi Arabia is Trump’s first foreign speech and part of an eight-day trip where he’ll also visit Israel, Pope Francis and NATO leaders.

While in Saudi Arabia, Trump praised a $110 billion arms sale agreement that he said will create American jobs. He signed a landmark memorandum of understanding with member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council to prosecute individual members of their countries that funnel money to terror groups.