Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. This comes within a year of the rebel-turned-ruler ousting the country’s long-standing autocratic rule. Al-Sharaa travels around the world to end the isolation Syria has faced under the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
It will be the first ever visit of a Syrian president to the White House. Al-Sharaa first met Trump in Saudi Arabia. The meeting came days after the United States announced that al-Sharaa, who was a former member of al-Qaeda, was no longer a “Designated Global Terrorist.”
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The 42-year-old al-Sharaa came to power in 2024 after his army of Islamic rebels launched an offensive from the northwestern region of Syria and overthrew the al-Assad regime within days on December 8, 2024.
Since coming under the new government, Syria, which was previously close to countries such as Iran and Russia, al-Assad’s close allies, is now trying to develop strong relations with the Gulf countries, Turkey and the United States.
The main topic of Monday’s meeting will be security.
According to a Reuters report, the United States plans to establish a military base in Damascus. Washington is also trying to broker a security deal between Israel and Syria.
It will also be the first meeting between the heads of government of the US and Syria since 2000, when Bill Clinton met with Hafez Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad.
Sanctions against Syria
US President Donald Trump announced after a meeting with al-Sharaa in Riyadh that he would lift all sanctions against Syria. He then praised the Syrian president, saying: “I think (Sharaa’s) doing a very good job. It’s a rough neighborhood and he’s a tough guy, but I got along very well with him.”
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One concern remains, however, in the form of the Caesar Sanctions Act, which although both the White House and State Department want to repeal, it needs approval from the US Congress, which may be difficult given the ongoing US government shutdown.
If this sanction is lifted, investment in Syria, which has been torn by a 14-year war, could take place.
Change in perception
Al-Sharaa himself has witnessed a dramatic change in how the West perceives him. He was first a terrorist linked to al-Qaeda, which he joined during the US-led invasion of Iraq.
In 2013, he was designated a terrorist by the US and a $10 million bounty was placed on his head. This bounty was removed in December 2024, along with the terrorism-related sanctions and designations that were removed last week.
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“Sharaa’s visit to Washington is symbolic of the ongoing dramatic shift as Syria has gone from being an Iranian satrapy to joining the American-led camp, and Sharaa himself has been transformed from a wanted terrorist to a partner in the war on terror,” Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa at the New York-based Eurasia Group, told Reuters.
“A lot can still go wrong in this nascent experiment, and serious concerns about the rights of minorities and individuals remain,” Maksad said, adding, “but the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington is a moment of hope that Syria is on the right track.”
