U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria's interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first encounter between leaders of the two countries in 25 years.
The meeting, with Trump's meeting place with the leaders of the GCC, marks a major event in which Syria has adapted to life after more than 50 years of iron-grinding rule by the Assad family.
Trump announced the day before he started his Three Kingdoms Middle East tour in Riyadh, and he will also lift sanctions imposed by former cybo officer Bashar al-Assad on Syria.
Wednesday's meeting was excellent as al-de Guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani's al-Sharaa has ties to al-Qaeda and joined insurgents fighting Iraq with U.S. forces before joining the Syrian war. He was imprisoned there by the U.S. military for several years, and later during the Syrian War, the FBI offered his captives rewards.
“I'm ordering a moratorium on sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start,” Trump told the GCC after meeting with al-Sharaa. “It gives them a great opportunity. The sanctions are really cruel and very powerful.”
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Trump-Al-Sharaa's meeting was held behind closed doors and journalists were not allowed to witness engagement.
Al-Sharaa was appointed interim president of Syria in January, a month after a stunning attack on the stunning insurgent group of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS in Al-Sharaa, attacking Damascus and ending the 54-year rule of the Assad family.
The White House later said that the meeting lasted more than 30 minutes since Hafez Assad met with Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000, which made Al-Sharaa the first Syrian leader to meet with the U.S. president.
Bashar al-Assad has been granted shelter by Russia after fleeing Syria, but he has never seen any of the four U.S. presidents during his tenure from 2000 to 2024, although he has met some U.S. politicians who visited Syria, including current director of the National Intelligence Agency Tulsi Gabbard, current National Intelligence Corporation and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“I really strongly think that this will give them a chance,” Trump said of Syria. “It's not easy anyway, so give them a big chance. And it's my honor to do so.”
He added: “We gave a speech last night and that was the biggest applause in the room.”
Rebuild estimated at $250B
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the meeting between Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-sharaa by phone. Türkiye was a major supporter of Al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.
Trump cited the intervention of Saudi Prince Mohammed, who faithfully praised him in his speech on Tuesday as the key to his decision.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump urged Al-Sharaa to diplomatically acknowledge Israel: “Tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria” and help the United States stop any resurrection of the Islamic State group.
Levitt added that Trump also demanded that the Syrian government “be responsible” for detention centers that hold ISIS fighters.
Many Gulf Arab leaders rally behind the new government in Damascus and hope Trump follows it as a bastion of opposition to Iran's return to Syria's influence, where it helped the Assad administration in a decade-long civil war.
As the World Bank estimates Syria’s reconstruction costs exceed $250 billion, Sharaa hopes to impose sanctions on relief to kick off an economy hit by a 14-year civil war. During this period, the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom imposed difficult sanctions on the Assad government.
The EU lifted some sanctions, and Emmanuel Macron held a Sharaa in Paris last week, with the French president calling sanctions on Syria a “barrier” to the country's recovery.
But our ally Israel has long been deeply suspicious of al-Sharaa extremists and warned against quick recognition of the new government. An Israeli official said during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington last month.
Israel is concerned that a cross-border attack similar to Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack could come from Syria. Israel also fears that Al-Sharaa and his Islamist past may pose a threat to its northern border.
Trump's move attracted Syrians to cheer
Syrians cheered Trump's announcement and the United States will take action to lift sanctions on the troubled Middle East.
The country-owned SANA news agency has released videos and photos of Syrians cheering in Umayyad Square, the largest video and photos of the country's capital Damascus. Others honked their trumpets or waved the new Syrian flag during the celebrations.
People whistle and cheer as fireworks illuminate the night sky.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday night that it announced that “a key turning point for the Syrian people is that we seek to stand out from the long and painful chapters of war.”
Carefully describe sanctions as “a new provisional government for war crimes committed by the Assad regime against the Syrian people, rather than a war-torn country.
“The lifting of these sanctions provides Syria with stable, self-sufficiency and meaningful national reconstruction, which presents important opportunities for the Syrian people,” the statement added.
Trump will travel to Qatar, his second leg of the Three Kingdoms Central Eastern Tour this week.
