Dhaka Tribune, Published on 17 March 2025

The persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others has been a major area of concern for Trump and his administration, says Tulsi Gabbard

The United States is deeply concerned over the situation in Bangladesh, particularly regarding the persecution of religious minorities, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in an exclusive interview with NDTV World on Monday.

She emphasized the Trump administration's commitment to combating alleged "Islamist terrorism" on a global scale.

Gabbard said: "The longtime unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others has been a major area of concern for the US government and President Trump and his administration."

She also revealed that discussions between the US government and Bangladesh's interim administration have commenced. 

"The talks are just beginning between President Trump's new cabinet coming in and the government of Bangladesh, but this continues to remain a central focus area of concern," she said.

Elaborating on the broader implications of extremism, she spoke about the ideology of an "Islamic Caliphate" and how extremist elements and terror outfits globally aim for such an outcome.

"The threat of Islamist terrorists and the global effort of different terror groups are rooted in the same ideology and objective – which is to rule or govern with an Islamist Caliphate," she said. 

She continued: "This obviously affects people of any other religion, other than the one that they find acceptable, and they choose to carry this out with terror and very violent ways and means." 

She reiterated that Trump is determined to dismantle such extremist ideologies. "President Trump remains committed to identifying the ideology that drives Islamist terrorism, and working to defeat this ideology and their ability to exact that terror on people.”