US President Donald Trump on Monday pledged to do everything possible for Syria’s success after talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom Washington until recently considered a foreign terrorist.
Speaking to reporters, Trump praised Sharaa as a “strong leader.”
“We will do everything we can to make Syria a success,” he said.
Trump also mentioned Sharaa’s controversial past. “We’ve all had a difficult past,” he said.
“I was honoured to spend time with Ahmed al – Sharaa, the new president of Syria, where we discussed the intricacies of peace in the Middle East, of which he is a major proponent.
Ash – Sharaa later told Fox News that his association with the militant was a thing of the past and the issue was not discussed in his meeting with Trump. He said Syria is now seen as a geopolitical ally of Washington rather than a threat.
Against the backdrop of the meeting, the US Treasury Department announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of sanctions against Syria, but only the US Congress can fully lift them.
Monday’s meeting was the first summit between a US and Syrian leader at the White House since 1946. The meeting is part of a marked turnaround in relations between the US and Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s rule in December 2024.
Sanctions were imposed on al-Sharaa, formerly known as Muhammad al-Julani, in 2014 because he led the radical Islamist group Jebgat al-Nusra, later renamed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which had links to al-Qaeda. The U.S. was announcing a $10 million reward for data that would lead to the capture of al-Sharaa. “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham announced a break with al-Qaeda several years ago. Al-Sharaa himself has repeatedly emphasised that he is no longer a supporter of radical ideas.
Ahmed al-Sharaa took over as president of the transitional period in Syria after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024, when armed opposition groups entered Damascus.
On 15 October, al-Sharaa travelled to Moscow for the first time since coming to power, where he was received in the Kremlin by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. During the talks, al-Sharaa said that Russia “will have a serious role in the development of a new Syria.” One of the main issues between the two countries concerns the preservation of the Russian naval base in Tartus and the airbase in Khmeimim.
Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War on Assad’s side in 2015. Officially, this was justified by the fight against the recognised terrorist organisation Islamic State, while Russian warplanes also struck armed opposition groups that did not belong to this group. In 2024, during a surprise rebel offensive, Assad’s power fell within days, and the Russian military drove him out of the country.