In a recent diplomatic visit to the Middle East, President Donald Trump expressed admiration for Syria’s current president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, during a meeting in Saudi Arabia. The meeting marked a significant moment as Trump became the first American president to engage directly with a Syrian leader in a quarter of a century. This follows the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, initially imposed to pressure the ousted dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
President al-Sharaa, 42, previously led the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), known for its role in the overthrow of Assad in December 2024. HTS, which evolved from the al-Nusra Front, was once affiliated with al Qaeda and is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations. Despite this, al-Sharaa has been attempting to reframe Syria’s global image post-Assad’s regime, adopting more conventional political attire to legitimize his authority as president.
Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has a controversial history in Islamic extremism, dating back to his involvement with al Qaeda in Iraq during the early 2000s. His time in the U.S.-run Camp Bucca detention center is noted for his association with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the future leader of ISIS. The two later parted ways, with al-Baghdadi establishing ISIS while al-Sharaa focused on the Syrian theater of conflict.
During their meeting, President Trump advocated for Syria to establish diplomatic relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, a significant peace initiative first signed in 2020. He further emphasized the need for Syria to evict foreign terrorists, manage ISIS detention centers, and prevent the resurgence of ISIS. The discussions occurred as Trump embarked on a four-day diplomatic tour, with his next engagement scheduled in Doha, Qatar, where the spotlight is expected to fall on a $400 million aircraft reportedly gifted by the Qatari royal family.
