Trump meets with Syria's insurgent-turned-leader in Saudi Arabia
[May 14, 2025]
By ZEKE MILLER, JON GAMBRELL and AAMER MADHANI
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria’s
interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the
first such encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years.
The meeting, on the sidelines of Trump's get-together with the leaders
of the Gulf Cooperation Council, marks a major turn of events for a
Syria still adjusting to life after the over 50-year, iron-gripped rule
of the Assad family.
Trump had announced the day before as he kicked off his three-nation
Middle East tour in Riyadh that he would also move to lift U.S.
sanctions imposed on Syria under the deposed autocrat Bashar Assad.
People across Syria cheered in the streets and set off fireworks on
Tuesday night to celebrate, hopeful their nation — locked out of credit
cards and global finance — might rejoin the world's economy when they
need investments the most.
Wednesday's meeting was also remarkable given al-Sharaa, under the nom
de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had ties to al-Qaida and joined
insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian war.
He was even imprisoned by U.S. troops there for several years.
And the meeting came even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu had earlier asked Trump not to lift sanctions on Syria, again
underscoring a growing discontent between the White House and the
Israeli government as its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages on.
I am “ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a
fresh start,” Trump told the Gulf Cooperation Council after his meeting
with al-Sharaa. “It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions
were really crippling, very powerful.”
A historic closed-door meeting
Trump said on Tuesday that he would meet al-Sharaa, who had flown in to
the Saudi capital for the face-to-face.
Even before its ruinous civil war that began in 2011, Syria struggled
under a tightly controlled socialist economy and under sanctions by the
U.S. as a state-sponsor of terror since 1979.
The Trump-al-Sharaa meeting took place behind closed doors and reporters
were not permitted to witness the engagement. The White House later said
it ran for just over 30 minutes, making al-Sharaa the first Syrian
leader to meet an American president since Hafez Assad met Bill Clinton
in Geneva in 2000.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the meeting between Trump,
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and al-Sharaa via a phone call.
Turkey was a main backer to al-Sharaa and his rebel faction.
“I felt very strongly that this would give them a chance,” Trump said of
Syria. “It’s not going to be easy anyway, so gives them a good strong
chance. And, it was my honor to do so.”
He added: “We made a speech last night and, that was the thing that got
the biggest applause from the room.”
Trump cited the intervention of Saudi Prince Mohammed as key to his
decision.
“We commend the decision made yesterday by President Trump to lift the
sanctions on the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, which will alleviate
the suffering of the Syrian people,” he said in a speech to the GCC.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that
Trump urged al-Sharaa to diplomatically recognize Israel, “tell all
foreign terrorists to leave Syria” and help the U.S. stop any resurgence
of the Islamic State group.
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This combination of photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump, left,
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025 and Syria's President Ahmad
al-Sharaa in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco
Seco, File) (AP Photo, File)
Trump also asked for the Syrian government to “assume
responsibility” for over a dozen detention centers holding some
9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group, Leavitt added.
The prisons are run by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces that spearheaded the military campaign against the
extremists and controlled the last sliver of land they once held in
March 2019.
Part of a deal reached in March between the Syrian government and
the SDF, all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil
fields in the northeast would be brought under the central
government’s control by the end of the year. Trump's desire for
Syria to take over the prisons also signal the potential of a full
American military withdrawal from Syria.
Al-Sharaa's militant past sparks Israeli concern
Al-Sharaa was named interim president of Syria in January, a month
after a stunning offensive by insurgent groups led by al-Sharaa’s
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, that stormed Damascus, ending the
54-year rule of the Assad family.
Many Gulf Arab leaders have rallied behind the new government in
Damascus and want Trump to follow, believing it is a bulwark against
Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up
Assad’s government during a decadelong civil war.
But longtime U.S. ally Israel has been deeply skeptical of al-Sharaa’s
extremist past and cautioned against swift recognition of the new
government. The request came during Netanyahu’s visit to Washington
last month, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition
of anonymity to discuss the subject.
Israel was concerned a cross-border attack similar to Hamas’ Oct. 7,
2023, assault, could come from Syria. Israel also fears al-Sharaa
and his Islamist past could pose a threat on its northern border.
Trump's move draws cheers from Syrians
Syrians cheered the announcement by Trump that the U.S. will move to
lift sanctions on the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation.
The state-run SANA news agency published video and photographs of
Syrians cheering in Umayyad Square, the largest in the country’s
capital, Damascus. Others honked their car horns or waved the new
Syrian flag in celebration.
People whistled and cheered as fireworks lit the night sky.
A statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday night called
the announcement “a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people as
we seek to emerge from a long and painful chapter of war.”
“The removal of these sanctions offers a vital opportunity for Syria
to pursue stability, self-sufficiency and meaningful national
reconstruction, led by and for the Syrian people,” the statement
added.
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Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press
photographer Alex Brandon and writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara,
Turkey; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bassem Mroue in
Beirut contributed to this report.
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