Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa waves as he greets supporters outside of the White House on Monday after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday to seek help in rebuilding his war-ravaged country, getting sanctions permanently lifted and brokering an agreement with Israel.
The sit-down marked the first time a Syrian leader has visited the White House since the country’s 1946 independence from France. It is a key step in Mr. al-Sharaa’s campaign to build bridges with the West after ending the Assad family’s half-century dictatorship last year.
Once an al-Qaeda-linked fighter in the anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq, Mr. al-Sharaa was jailed by American forces for five years before becoming a leader of Islamist groups in the 13-year Syrian Civil War that ultimately ousted former president Bashar al-Assad.
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Mr. al-Sharaa arrived at the White House shortly after 11:30 a.m., using a side entrance from West Executive Avenue rather the West Wing’s usual front drive. He and Mr. Trump met for a little under two hours. As he left around 1:20 p.m., he stopped to greet supporters who had gathered at Lafayette Square across from the White House.
Mr. Trump later praised the 43-year-old Syrian President and vowed to help his country.
“He’s a tough guy. I like him, I get along with him. We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful, because that’s part of the Middle East,” the U.S. President told reporters. “People said he’s had a rough past. We’ve all had rough pasts.”
Mr. Trump also said he would try to broker an agreement between Syria and Israel, which invaded a United Nations buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syrian-controlled territory after Mr. al-Assad’s fall.
“We’re working also with Israel on getting along with Syria, getting along with everybody, and that’s working amazingly,” Mr. Trump said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he gets along well with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and he has confidence that he will 'be able to do the job.'
Reuters
A Trump administration official said Syria will formally join the global coalition against ISIS, and will help the United States both in going after remaining ISIS forces and in stopping foreign fighters from joining the group. The country will also be allowed to restart operations at its Washington embassy, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of private discussions.
Photos from the meeting showed Mr. al-Sharaa and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance sitting across the Oval Office Resolute desk from Mr. Trump. Others in the room included Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Tom Barrack, Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Syria.
The two presidents first met in May in Saudi Arabia, after which Mr. Trump waived sanctions on Syria. On Monday, Mr. Rubio announced that this waiver would continue for another 180 days. The UN also lifted its sanctions on the Syrian government before Mr. al-Sharaa’s visit to the U.S.
The Syrian President is seeking a permanent end to the sanctions, which would require the U.S. Congress to repeal the 2019 Caesar Act. The administration official said the White House was pressing Congress to do this.
Among other things, the act blocked companies from doing business in the construction and energy sectors in Syria, putting significant pressure on the country’s economy.
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In addition to the White House visit, Mr. al-Sharaa’s Washington trip has included meetings with lawmakers; Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; and members of the Syrian-American community. Mr. al-Sharaa’s office said he and Ms. Georgieva discussed “frameworks to enhance growth and promote economic reform.”
Mufaddal Hamadeh, president of the Syrian American Medical Society, was among those who met with Mr. al-Sharaa at the Salamander Hotel in Washington. There was one smaller meeting for 25 to 30 representatives of non-governmental organizations and a larger session with hundreds of people.
“I had never seen the Syrian-American community so excited to see their leader. There’s an unbelievable enthusiasm for him,” Dr. Hamadeh said, adding that Mr. al-Sharaa seemed relaxed, frequently trading jokes with the audience.
The visit to the U.S. capital, Dr. Hamadeh said, marked a “historic shift”: for a country that was once allied with the Soviet bloc and, later, Russia and Iran, there is now an opportunity to align itself with the democratic world.
“It gives the new Syrian government legitimacy and recognition, that this is a new chapter, a beginning in the relationship with the U.S. and the West,” he said.
Zaher Sahloul, a Syrian-American humanitarian activist, said that during one question-and-answer session, Mr. al-Sharaa promised elections when the mandate of his interim government ends.
“He mentioned democracy – that’s the first time I’ve heard him talking about that in public,” Dr. Sahloul said. “He said that Syria is different from the United States and you cannot impose the same model as in this country or in Europe, but he said that you will be able to elect within four years.”
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A group of Canadians in the audience also shouted at the Syrian President to visit Canada, Dr. Sahloul said.
Mr. al-Sharaa certainly has his work cut out for him, Dr. Sahloul said: The World Bank estimates that it will cost US$260-billion to rebuild a country where 90 per cent of people live below the poverty line. “We think that President Trump can do that,” given his interest in stabilizing the Middle East, he added.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham wants to tie ending the Caesar Act to human-rights and security benchmarks, and make it easy for Congress to reimpose sanctions. Syria wants the legislation repealed entirely to remove all doubts for potential investors.
Mr. al-Sharaa’s odyssey to becoming his country’s leader included heading the Al-Nusra Front and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Islamist groups accused of war crimes and designated by Canada as terrorist organizations. He broke with al-Qaeda around 2016. In 2017, the U.S. put a US$10-million bounty on his head.
Since defeating Mr. al-Assad last December, Mr. al-Sharaa has presented a more moderate image, including promising to protect Syria’s minorities.
Dr. Sahloul said the meetings in Washington included Syrian Christians, Druze, Kurds and Jews, and that Mr. al-Sharaa was blessed by a rabbi.