Trump vows to do everything he can
to help Syria after landmark talks with Sharaa
By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald
Trump vowed on Monday to do everything he
can to make Syria successful after landmark
talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a
former al Qaeda commander who until recently
was sanctioned by Washington as a foreign
terrorist.
Sharaa's visit capped a stunning year for the rebel-turned-ruler
who toppled longtime autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad and has
since travelled the world trying to depict himself as a moderate
leader who wants to unify his war-ravaged nation and end its
decades of international isolation.
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One of Sharaa's chief aims in Washington was to push for full
removal of the toughest U.S. sanctions. While he met with Trump
behind closed doors, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a
180-day extension of its suspension of enforcement of the so-
called Caesar sanctions, but only the U.S. Congress can lift them
entirely.
Trump met with Sharaa in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president
to Washington, six months after their first meeting in Saudi
Arabia, where the U.S. leader announced plans to lift sanctions,
and just days after the U.S. said he was no longer a "Specially
Designated Global Terrorist."
In an unusually muted welcome, Sharaa, who once had a $10
million U.S. bounty on his head, arrived without the fanfare
usually given to foreign dignitaries. He entered through a side
door where reporters only got a glimpse instead of through the
West Wing main door where cameras often capture Trump
greeting VIPs.
Speaking to reporters, Trump praised Sharaa as a "strong leader"
and voiced confidence in him. "We’ll do everything we can to
make Syria successful," he said.
But Trump also gave a nod to Sharaa's controversial past. "We’ve
all had rough pasts," he said.
Promising "continued sanctions relief," the Treasury Department
announced a new order to replace its May 23 waiver on
enforcement of the 2019 Caesar Act, which imposed sweeping
sanctions over human rights abuses under Assad. The move
essentially extended the waiver by another 180 days,
Sharaa, 43, took power last year after his Islamist fighters
launched a lightning offensive and overthrew longtime Syrian
President Assad just days later on December 8.
Syria has since moved at a dizzying pace, away from Assad's key
Washington.
Security was also expected to be a top focus of Sharaa's meeting
with Trump, who in a major U.S. policy shift has sought to help
Syria's fragile transition.
The U.S. is brokering talks on a possible security pact between
Syria and Israel, which remains wary of Sharaa's former militant
establish a military presence at a Damascus airbase.
Syria recently signed a political cooperation declaration with the
U.S.-led "Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State," the Syrian
information minister said in a post on X on Monday.
ASSASSINATION PLOTS
[1/3]Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa greets supporters after meeting
with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 10, 2025.
Lubna Allababidi/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
Just hours before the landmark talks, word emerged of two separate Islamic State plots to assassinate Sharaa that had been foiled over the last few months, according to a senior Syrian security official and a senior Middle Eastern official.
Over the weekend, the Syrian interior ministry launched a nationwide campaign targeting Islamic State cells across the country, arresting more than 70 suspects, government media said.
Sharaa's arrival at the White House was muted. Most heads of state are driven up the driveway festooned with their national flags. But on Monday there was none of that.
Following the meeting, Trump sharply rebuked U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said on X that she would "really like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy not foreign policy and foreign country’s leaders."
Saying the Georgia Republican had "lost her way," he added: "I have to view the presidency as a worldwide situation ... We could have a world on fire where wars come to our shores very easily."
As Sharaa left the compound, he exited his motorcade just in front of the White House and briefly greeted a cheering crowd of supporters, some waving Syrian flags.
Sharaa was expected to strongly advocate for a repeal of the Caesar Act, which will help spur global investment in a country ravaged by 14 years of war and which the World Bank estimates will take more than $200 billion to rebuild.
Several influential members of Congress have called for the lifting of the 2019 Caesar sanctions, passed in response to human rights abuses under Assad. A few of Trump’s fellow Republicans want the sanctions to stay in place, but that could change if Trump applies pressure.
Syria's social fabric has been more recently tested. New bouts of sectarian violence left more than 2,500 dead since Assad's fall, deepening civil war wounds and putting into question the new rulers' ability to govern for all Syrians.
Trump's focus on Syria comes as his administration seeks to keep intact a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas militants and push forward on his 20-point plan for an end to the two-year-old war there.
DRAMATIC SHIFTS
Sharaa's own turnaround is no less impressive than his country's. He joined al Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and spent years in U.S. prison there, before returning to Syria to join the insurgency against Assad.
In 2013, the U.S. designated Sharaa, then known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, as a terrorist for his ties to al Qaeda. He broke ties with the group in 2016 and consolidated his influence in Syria's northwest.
The U.S. removed the bounty on Sharaa in December, and just last week, the United Nations Security Council lifted terror-related sanctions designations on him and his Interior Minister Anas Khattab.
Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; additional reporting by Timour Azhari in Riyadh, Patricia Zengerle in Washington; writing by Timour Azhari and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Michelle Nichols, Bill Berkrot and Alistair Bell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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