President Donald Trump engaged in discussions with Syria’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Wednesday morning during his visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the possibility of ‘exploring normalization’ with the conflict-ridden nation.
President Recep Erdogan of Turkey joined by phone while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud joined Trump and al-Sharaa in person.
Trump indicated the meeting went well.
‘The cessation of sanctions against Syria gives them a fresh start and an opportunity for greatness,’ he stated at the Gulf Cooperation Council meeting afterward. ‘The sanctions were really crippling.’
The sitdown was the first encounter between the American and Syrian leaders in 25 years.
‘We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government,’ Trump declared. As part of this initiative, the president mentioned that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would hold talks with his Syrian counterpart.
President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met in Riyadh
Trump told Al-Sharaa ‘that he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country,’ the White House said in its readout of the meeting.
The president also gave Al-Sharaa a laundry list of objectives, including urging Syria to ‘sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel, tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help the United States to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, and assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in Northeast Syria.’
The leaders – in their 33-minute conversation, also discussed the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the readout said.
Trump appeared to be poised to meet with al-Sharaa on Tuesday, answering a question from the Daily Mail outside the Royal Court suggesting that he thought the meeting was happening.
The White House later confirmed that Trump and al-Sharaa would ‘say hello’ as the president was scheduled to meet members of the Gulf Cooperation Council Wednesday morning before jetting off to Doha, Qatar for the second leg of his three-state Middle East swing.
The Trump-al-Sharaa meeting comes after the president announced Tuesday evening that he would drop U.S. sanctions on Syria, leftover from the brutal Assad regime.
‘I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,’ Trump told those attending the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum that the president was hosting alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
‘Now is their time to shine,’ the president added.
The president revealed to the audience that MBS, as well as Erdogan, had pressed Trump on the Syrian sanctions issue.
‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ the president said with a laugh. Turkey was a main backer to al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.
The president received a standing ovation from the audience with the sanctions announcement.
But not everyone was happy with the decision.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria, making the request during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington last month, an Israeli official told the Associated Press.
Netanyahu was concerned that Syria could launch an attack similar to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault. Israel also fears al-Sharaa and his Islamist past could pose a threat on its northern border.
Ahead of Trump’s trip al-Sharaa floated a number of things he’d be willing to do to get sanctions relief from the Americans.
He floated the idea of building a Trump Tower Damascus and said Syria would give the U.S. some of its oil.
al-Sharaa also said he’d be open to a detente with Israel, which has ramped up military operations in parts of Syria.
Syrian rebels toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad in December, with al-Sharaa officially becoming the country’s president in January.
al-Sharaa is still on a U.S.-designated terror list as a former member of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
President Donald Trump told the Gulf Cooperation Council that the U.S. is ‘exploring normalizing with Syria’s new government’
President Donald Trump (left), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second left), Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa (right), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center) and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (second right) met for about 30 minutes
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa is still on a U.S. terror watchlist due to his previous participation in al-Qaeda in Iraq. He’s since renounced Islamic jihadism against western nations like the United States
In more recent times, the Syrian politician has renounced Islamic jihadism against western nations like the United States.
al-Sharaa was actually born in the same city where he will meet with Trump – Riyadh.
He came from a Syrian Sunni Muslim family and grew up in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
During the 2003 Iraq war, al-Sharaa left Syria and went to Iraq to fight as part of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
al-Sharaa was a rebel commander during the Syrian civil war.
His meeting with Trump marked the first time a U.S. president and Syrian head of state have greeted each other since the year 2000.
