Donald Trump met with Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, just hours after announcing that the United States would lift all sanctions on the war-torn country.
The meeting took place ahead of a Gulf Cooperation Council summit and formed part of Trump’s four-day tour of the Middle East, during which he is aiming to attract investment from Gulf states into the U.S. economy.
The face-to-face encounter marked the culmination of months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy led by Syria and supported by its Turkish and Saudi backers, who believed that direct engagement with Trump could help end Syria’s diplomatic isolation.
Syrian officials had come prepared with an offer aimed at appealing to Trump’s interests — including potential oil deals, assurances regarding Israel’s security, and even a proposal to develop a Trump-branded tower in Damascus.
For Damascus, the meeting was seen as a crucial move toward securing international legitimacy for the new government that took power after Bashar al-Assad was deposed in December. The U.S. had previously been reluctant to engage with President Sharaa, who once led the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The original sanctions were imposed over a decade ago in response to Assad’s violent crackdown on civilian protesters in 2011. Although Assad is no longer in power, the sanctions remained while the U.S. assessed the direction of Syria’s new leadership. The State Department had been in the midst of negotiating terms for lifting the embargo when Trump abruptly announced the full removal of sanctions on Tuesday evening.
“There’s a new administration in Syria that deserves a real chance to bring peace and stability,” Trump said during a speech in Saudi Arabia. “That’s why I’m ending all U.S. sanctions — to support their path toward prosperity.”
Lifting the sanctions marks a significant step toward Syria’s reintegration into the global economic community and offers a vital lifeline to a country still struggling to rebuild after 14 years of civil war.
