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Trump Backs Syria’s New Leader in Historic White House Meeting
Former al Qaeda commander turned Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met U.S. President Donald Trump in a historic White House visit. The visit was aimed at rebuilding ties and securing sanctions relief for war-torn Syria.
Donald Trump - Ahmed al-Shara meeting in Riyadh by Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Monday to help make Syria “successful” after a historic meeting with Syrian President Ahmed alSharaa, a former al Qaeda commander once sanctioned by Washington as a terrorist.
Sharaa’s visit marked a dramatic milestone for the rebel leader who overthrew Bashar al Assad last year and has since sought to present himself as a unifying moderate eager to end Syria’s isolation.
The White House meeting the first ever by a Syrian president came six months after their initial encounter in Saudi Arabia and just days after the U.S. removed Sharaa from its list of “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.”
Trump praised Sharaa as a “strong leader,” adding, “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful.” Acknowledging his past, he said, “We’ve all had rough pasts.”
While Trump and Sharaa met behind closed doors, the U.S. Treasury Department extended its suspension of enforcement of the 2019 Caesar sanctions for another 180 days. The act passed over Assadera abuses, can only be repealed by Congress.
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Sharaa, 43, came to power after his fighters overthrew Assad in December 2024. Since then, Syria has shifted away from Iran and Russia toward Turkey, the Gulf, and Washington.
Security cooperation dominated talks, with U.S. officials reportedly brokering discussions on a possible Syria Israel security pact and planning a limited U.S. presence at a Damascus airbase. Hours before the meeting, Syrian authorities said they had foiled two Islamic State assassination plots targeting Sharaa.
After the muted White House reception, Trump defended his focus on Syria, saying, “I have to view the presidency as a worldwide situation… We could have a world on fire where wars come to our shores very easily.”
Sharaa has urged the full repeal of the Caesar Act to attract global investment. The World Bank estimates rebuilding Syria will cost more than $200 billion. Some members of Congress support lifting sanctions, while others remain opposed.
Since Assad’s fall, sectarian clashes have killed more than 2,500 people, testing Sharaa’s ability to govern a fractured nation.
Once known as Abu Mohammad alGolani, Sharaa joined al Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, was later imprisoned by U.S. forces, and returned to Syria to fight Assad. Designated a terrorist in 2013, he broke ties with al Qaeda in 2016 and rose to power as a nationalist leader.
He became the first Syrian leader to address the U.N. General Assembly in decades and has promised elections within five years, though his temporary constitution grants him broad powers.
Sharaa’s journey from militant commander to head of state marks one of the most extraordinary political turnarounds in the modern Middle East.
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Editor’s Note:
Ahmed alSharaa’s unprecedented visit to the White House underscores a profound shift in U.S. foreign policy and Syria’s global reemergence. Just years ago, Sharaa was a wanted militant with a $10 million U.S. bounty today, he stands in Washington as a head of state seeking legitimacy and economic relief. The meeting reflects not only Syria’s rapid transformation but also the complex balancing act of reconciling past enmities with present geopolitical realities.
