Trump meets with Syria's president Sharaa at Saudi royal palace

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 14, 2025 7:15 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa successful Saudi Arabia connected Wednesday, the archetypal specified brushwood betwixt the leaders of those 2 countries successful 25 years.

The meeting, connected the sidelines of Trump's get-together with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marks a large crook of events for a Syria inactive adjusting to beingness aft the implicit 50-year, iron-gripped regularisation of the Assad family.

Trump had announced the time earlier arsenic helium kicked disconnected his three-nation Middle East circuit successful Riyadh that helium would besides determination to assistance U.S. sanctions imposed connected Syria nether erstwhile autocrat Bashar al-Assad.

The gathering connected Wednesday was singular fixed al-Sharaa, nether the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had ties to al-Qaeda and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces successful Iraq earlier entering the Syrian war. He was imprisoned by U.S. troops determination for respective years, and aboriginal during the Syrian warfare the FBI offered a reward for his capture.

I americium "ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to springiness them a caller start," Trump told the Gulf Cooperation Council aft his gathering with al-Sharaa. "It gives them a accidental for greatness. The sanctions were truly crippling, precise powerful."

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The Trump-al-Sharaa gathering took spot down closed doors and reporters were not permitted to witnesser the engagement. 

Al-Sharaa was named interim president of Syria successful January, a period aft a stunning violative by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, oregon HTS, that stormed Damascus, ending the 54-year regularisation of the Assad family.

The White House aboriginal said the meeting ran for conscionable implicit 30 minutes, making al-Sharaa the archetypal Syrian person to conscionable an American president since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton successful Geneva successful 2000.

Bashar al-Assad, who was fixed sanctuary by Russia aft fleeing Syria, ne'er met immoderate of the 4 U.S. presidents from his tenure of 2000-2024, though helium met with a fewer U.S. politicians who visited Syria, including Tulsi Gabbard, existent manager of nationalist intelligence, and erstwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"I felt precise powerfully that this would springiness them a chance," Trump said of Syria. "It's not going to beryllium casual anyway, truthful gives them a bully beardown chance. And, it was my honour to bash so."

He added: "We made a code past night, and that was the happening that got the biggest applause from the room."

Reconstruction estimated astatine $250B US

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the gathering betwixt Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-Sharaa via a telephone call. Turkey was a main backer to al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.

Trump cited the involution of Saudi Prince Mohammed, who helium praised effusively successful a code connected Tuesday, arsenic cardinal to his decision.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said successful a connection that Trump urged al-Sharaa to diplomatically admit Israel, "tell each overseas terrorists to permission Syria" and assistance the U.S. halt immoderate resurgence of the Islamic State group.

Trump besides asked for the Syrian authorities to "assume responsibility" for detention centres holding Islamic State fighters, Leavitt added.

Many Gulf Arab leaders person rallied down the caller authorities successful Damascus and privation Trump to follow, believing it is simply a bulwark against Iran's instrumentality to power successful Syria, wherever it had helped prop up Assad's authorities during a decade-long civilian war.

With the World Bank estimating Syria's reconstruction costs astatine much than $250 cardinal US, Sharaa wants sanctions alleviation to kickstart an system battered by 14 years of civilian war. During that period, the U.S., European Union and Britain imposed pugnacious sanctions connected the Assad government.  

The EU has lifted immoderate sanctions, and past week Emmanuel Macron hosted Sharaa successful Paris, with the French president calling sanctions connected Syria an "obstacle" to the country's recovery.

But longtime U.S. state Israel has been profoundly skeptical of al-Sharaa's extremist past and cautioned against swift designation of the caller government. The petition came during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sojourn to Washington past month, according to an Israeli authoritative who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon the subject.

Israel was acrophobic a cross-border onslaught akin to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, assault, could travel from Syria. Israel besides fears al-Sharaa and his Islamist past could airs a menace connected its bluish border.

Trump's determination draws cheers from Syrians

Syrians cheered the announcement by Trump that the U.S. volition determination to assistance sanctions connected the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation.

The state-run SANA quality bureau published video and photographs of Syrians cheering successful Umayyad Square, the largest successful the country's capital, Damascus. Others honked their car horns oregon waved the caller Syrian emblem successful celebration.

People whistled and cheered arsenic fireworks lit the nighttime sky.

A connection from Syria's Foreign Ministry connected Tuesday nighttime called the announcement "a pivotal turning constituent for the Syrian radical arsenic we question to look from a agelong and achy section of war."

It was cautious to picture the sanctions arsenic coming "in effect to the warfare crimes committed by the Assad authorities against the Syrian people," alternatively than the war-torn nation's caller interim government.

"The removal of these sanctions offers a captious accidental for Syria to prosecute stability, self-sufficiency and meaningful nationalist reconstruction, led by and for the Syrian people," the connection added.

Trump was to caput to Qatar, the 2nd limb of his three-nation Middle East circuit this week.