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Trump meets Syria’s ‘attractive, tough’ president after lifting US sanctions Trump meets Syria’s ‘attractive, tough’ president after lifting US sanctions
(about 3 hours later)
Meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia seen as step towards recognition of new Syrian authority’s legitimacy US president meets Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia as lifting of sanctions is met with jubilation in Damascus
Donald Trump has met Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia and said Washington is exploring normalising ties with Damascus, a day after an announcement that all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted. Donald Trump has met Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia, telling the former jihadist he had an “extraordinary opportunity”, and said Washington is exploring normalising ties with Damascus, a day after an announcement that all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.
The US president met Sharaa, a former militant who fought against US forces in Iraq and had a $10m US bounty on his head until December 2024, for about half an hour before a conference of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). That meeting is part of Trump’s four-day visit to the Middle East, where he is expected to court Gulf allies for investments in the US. Trump later travelled to Doha, where he met the Qatari leader, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The US president met Sharaa, a former militant who fought against US forces in Iraq and had a $10m US bounty on his head until December 2024, alongside the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for about half an hour before a conference of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as part of his four-day visit to the Middle East.
Trump’s meeting with Sharaa was the first between a US president and a president of Syria since Bill Clinton met Hafez al-Assad in 2000 – a key milestone for Syria’s reintegration into the international arena. It was the first meeting between a US and a Syrian president for 25 years and a key milestone for Syria’s reintegration into the international arena after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One after the meeting that Sharaa was a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”
After his discussion with Sharaa, Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One that the Syrian president was a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter”. In Syria, people watched the images of their president standing beside the leaders of the US and Saudi Arabia on their TV screens in amazement. For many it was a sign that 15 years of international isolation could finally be coming to an end.
He said he thought Sharaa had a “real shot at holding it [Syria] together” and that the Syrian president had agreed to eventually join the Abraham accords, which would normalise Syrian ties with Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco signed the US-brokered accords in 2020. Stalls that had popped up by Damascus’s Ummayad mosque after the fall of Assad in December now sold the Saudi flag alongside the Syrian – thanks for Saudi’s role in helping arrange the Trump-Sharaa meeting.
Pictures showed the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, sitting in the room as Trump and Sharaa met in Riyadh, flanked by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the Syrian foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, joined the meeting by telephone, according to the Turkish Anadolu news agency. “For 15 years the world had this picture of us Syrians as refugees. Now they see us as we are. You can finally see light and you can see hope,” said Hossam al-Khouli, 50, the owner of a handicraft shop in Damascus’s old city.
According to a White House spokesperson, Trump urged Sharaa to “deport Palestinian terrorists”. He also urged Sharaa to help the US in its mission to fight Islamic State and deal with the country’s remaining chemical weapons stock. Behind Khouli was a wall filled with handmade mirrors and boxes inlaid with Damascus’s famed mother-of-pearl. It was rare that he sold pieces these days, he said, as Syria had had few tourists over the last 15 years. Trump and Sharaa’s meeting seemed to him a sign that soon he may have plenty of visitors to sell to.
“[I am] ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start,” Trump told the GCC after his meeting with Sharaa. “It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions were really crippling, very powerful.” “When Trump spoke last night, it was the first time in my life that I listened to any president in the world and began to clap. He’s a great man, really, he is a great man,” Khouli said, smiling.
The meeting was remarkable as the Trump administration had previously been wary of engaging with Sharaa, a former leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who has sought to moderate his image in recent years. Sharaa previously led the Syrian wing of al-Qaida before cutting ties with the group in 2016. Trump also seemed pleased with the meeting. He said he thought Sharaa had a “real shot at holding it [Syria] together” and that the Syrian president had agreed to eventually join the Abraham accords, which would normalise Syrian ties with Israel. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco signed the US-brokered accords in 2020.
The meeting seemed to be a blueprint for further US-Syria cooperation, and will be followed up by discussions between Rubio and his Syrian counterpart, according to a Syrian foreign ministry statement. “[I am] ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start,” Trump told the GCC. “It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions were really crippling, very powerful.”
It was the culmination of months of diplomacy by the new Syrian government, which overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the end of the last year, as well as their Turkish and Saudi allies, who believed face time with Trump would help end Syria’s international isolation. According to a White House spokesperson, Trump urged Sharaa to “deport Palestinian terrorists”, help the US against Islamic State, and to deal with the country’s remaining chemical weapons stock.
Damascus had prepared a pitch to Trump that included access to Syrian oil, reassurances of Israel’s security and a proposal to build a Trump tower in Damascus. The meeting, which Trump said had come at the urging of Prince Mohammed and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was remarkable as the Trump administration had previously been wary of engaging with Sharaa, a former leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who has sought to moderate his image in recent years. Sharaa previously led the Syrian wing of al-Qaida before cutting ties with the group in 2016.
A meeting with Trump was seen as a key step towards recognition of the legitimacy of the new authority in Damascus after Assad was ousted as Syria’s president in December. It will further help consolidate the control of the new regime in Damascus, which has struggled to extend its authority over the patchwork of militias that still govern parts of war-torn Syria. It was the culmination of months of diplomacy by the new Syrian government, which overthrew Assad’s regime at the end of the last year, as well as their Turkish and Saudi allies, who believed face time with Trump would help end Syria’s international isolation. Damascus had prepared a pitch to Trump that included access to Syrian oil, reassurances of Israel’s security and a proposal to build a Trump tower in Damascus.
Though sanctions were originally imposed on Assad after his bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2011, the US and other countries retained their economic embargo on Syria as they evaluated the new Islamist-led government in Damascus. Trump later arrived in Qatar for the second leg of his Middle East trip, where he oversaw the signing of a $96bn order from Qatar Airways for up to 160 Boeing aircraft and a statement of intent for more than $38bn in future defence investments.
A key concern for the US in Syria is the protection of religious minorities. The Trump administration released a sharply worded statement urging Damascus to protect minorities after attacks by pro-Assad forces sparked revenge killings of nearly 900 mostly Alawite civilians in north-west Syria in March.
The US state department had handed the Syrians a 12-point list of conditions to end sanctions, which included protection of minorities and the US maintaining the right to conduct strikes against what it considered “terrorists” on Syrian soil. They were in the process of negotiating when Trump suddenly announced the lifting of US sanctions on Tuesday night.
“There’s a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilising the country and keeping peace,” Trump said in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.”
The lifting of the sanctions came despite Israeli suspicions of the Islamist government in Damascus. Israel has said it will not allow government forces to deploy in southern Syria, and it has carried out dozens of airstrikes across the country in recent months.
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Saudi Arabia commended Trump’s move to lift sanctions, with Prince Mohammed praising the decision at the GCC summit in Riyadh. The Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, said Riyadh would coordinate with Washington on the lifting of sanctions. Sanctions were originally imposed on Assad after his bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2011, and the US and other countries retained their economic embargo on Syria as they evaluated the new Islamist-led government in Damascus.
A key concern for the US in Syria is the protection of religious minorities. The Trump administration released a sharply worded statement urging Damascus to protect minorities after attacks by pro-Assad forces sparked revenge killings of nearly 900 mostly Alawite civilians in north-west Syria in March.
The US state department had handed the Syrians a 12-point list of conditions to end sanctions, which included protection of minorities and the US maintaining the right to conduct strikes against what it considered “terrorists” on Syrian soil. They were in the process of negotiating when Trump suddenly announced the lifting of US sanctions on Tuesday night at an investment conference in Saudi Arabia.
It came despite Israeli suspicions of the Islamist government in Damascus. Israel has said it will not allow government forces to deploy in southern Syria, and it has carried out dozens of airstrikes across the country in recent months.
The end of US sanctions will be a step towards reintegrating Syria into the international economic system and a boost to the battered economy trying to rebuild after 14 years of civil war.The end of US sanctions will be a step towards reintegrating Syria into the international economic system and a boost to the battered economy trying to rebuild after 14 years of civil war.
In Damascus, the announcement of the end of sanctions was met with jubilation. Beeping cars waving Syrian flags filled the country’s capital on Tuesday. A traditional Syrian band played in the city’s old quarter, the beats of the drums accompanied by whooping cheers. The announcement of the end of sanctions was met with jubilation in Damascus. Beeping cars waving Syrian flags filled the country’s capital. A traditional Syrian band played in the city’s old quarter, the beats of the drums accompanied by whooping cheers. Social media in Syria was meanwhile filled with videos of Trump dancing, his signature double-fist pump set to Syrian anthems.
Social media in Syria was filled with videos of Trump dancing, his signature double-fist pump set to Syrian anthems.
“Everyone is happy and in the streets. Thank God, a thousand times thank God,” said Omar al-Nafa, who works in education.“Everyone is happy and in the streets. Thank God, a thousand times thank God,” said Omar al-Nafa, who works in education.
Syria’s economy is battered from 14 years of war, with the UN estimating more than 90% of the population lives in poverty. Much of the country’s housing stock is destroyed and basic services, such as electricity and internet, remain dysfunctional.Syria’s economy is battered from 14 years of war, with the UN estimating more than 90% of the population lives in poverty. Much of the country’s housing stock is destroyed and basic services, such as electricity and internet, remain dysfunctional.
For months, the lifting of US sanctions was the policy priority for Syria’s new authorities, who saw it as a key obstacle for building a proper state and engaging in wide-scale reconstruction.
The Syrian foreign ministry welcomed Trump’s announcement, calling it a “pivotal turning point for the Syrian people as we seek to emerge from a long and painful chapter of war”. It said: “The removal of those sanctions offers a vital opportunity for Syria to pursue stability, self-sufficiency and meaningful national reconstruction, led by and for the Syrian people.”
Syria’s new government set ambitious goals to rebuild the country but was hampered by severe economic sanctions. Under US sanctions, Syria had no access to the international Swift banking system, and international businesses were reluctant to trade with the country for fear of falling foul of the US treasury.Syria’s new government set ambitious goals to rebuild the country but was hampered by severe economic sanctions. Under US sanctions, Syria had no access to the international Swift banking system, and international businesses were reluctant to trade with the country for fear of falling foul of the US treasury.
Nafa said: “It will take some time for it to be actually implemented, but hopefully it will help the economy.”Nafa said: “It will take some time for it to be actually implemented, but hopefully it will help the economy.”