While the Arabs and the Muslim World in general may prefer to conveniently ignore or wish to cover it up with some other sweet fragment from his speech, Donald Trump’s selection of Saudi Arabia as the centre for fighting global extremism has in fact stated frankly that it is the Muslim world which has to take the front seat in fighting extremism. He was uncharacteristically clear over the matter during the course of his address because the western world led by the USA, believes that most of the existing global extremist problem emerges from countries where the predominant majority is that of Muslims. He visited Saudi Arabia and announced the centralisation of Saudi Arabia as the global center for combating extremism. Trump posited Iran as a centrepiece of trouble in the Middle East, and on the other bracketed Iran along with Saudi Arabia and the wider Muslim world as the spring-head of anxiety for the rest of the world, including India. To his mind, there are only two categories of countries: the ones which are suffering because of extremism, the victims, and the others which are home to the extremists, the perpetrators. However, it was good of him to acknowledge that most victims of extremism are Muslims. He did not forget to mention Muslim faith in the exhortation of combating extremism, but he was careful enough to use the word ‘Islamist’ and not ‘Islam’. The US president sounded less hostile towards Muslims than he was during the course of his election campaign, and after getting elected when he signed documents asking for a ban on Muslims coming to the United States from some of the Muslim countries. He spoke highly about Islam and the sanctity of the holy sites, and the great partnership he envisioned with King Salman. However, all of that should be less important for the Islamic world than his stress on extremism and terror and the inherent linkages he sought to make between faith and extremism. The hate and distrust towards Muslims is perhaps an expression of atavistic western desires but quite a few Muslims feel that part of the rot is within, and to ignore it will be counterproductive. Contrary to his previous statements, he praised Islam and its contribution to human civilisation. At the same time, as a representative of the US citizens he wanted Saudi Arabia to be at the forefront of battle against extremism and terrorism because he feels it is from Saudi Arabia that the vibrations of extremism extend outwards into the farthest parts of the world by virtue of the influence the country wields over the believers. The choice of Saudi Arabia as the center for combating extremism is intended to control and withdraw those vibrations, and bring them to a permanent halt. Further, The US president lifted the conservative line of thinking in the US about Muslims and put it where he believed it should be: the hub of Wahabism and the source of 9/11 terror plotters. It is not difficult to find out the loopholes in the rather easy and categorical statements of the president. It is not hidden how the US has played foul all over the world, from the militarised beaches of South Korea and the deep forests of Africa to the ancient ruins of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan, the US history of short-changing the weak and the poor of the globe, flaunting its clout under the intoxication of power, is known to all. The US is doing what fits its interest and its foreign policy fangs have rendered its image, in the words of Tennyson, ‘red in tooth and claw.’ The onus of making peace is on the US without doubt. However, there is a need to reflect as to why the perception has strengthened, especially in the western world, that Muslims engender extremism, through a regimentation of their life and surroundings. Is it purely due to manipulations of the media (controlled, as is widely believed in the Muslim world, by the Jews) or some ideologies have gained ground which encourage tendencies unwelcome in the rest of the world? Is there a need for toning down regimentation of life and belief among us, allowing freer air for human beings to breathe? The life of Muslims is not similar in different parts of globe, but what seems to unite all Muslims, in addition to the core areas of belief, is the almost uniform distrust with which we are looked at in the western world. There can be an argument that the existing hate and distrust is an expression of the atavistic western desires but there are quite a few people within the Muslim community who feel that part of the rot is within, and to ignore it will be counterproductive. Before he catches his flight to Jerusalem, Trump would imagine that he has scored a metaphorical win in telling Saudi Arabia to lead the fight because the country is most probably the source of it all. The writer can be reached at javjnu@gmail.com