Syrian president lands in U.S for meeting with Trump
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the U.S. on Saturday ahead of a historic meeting with President Trump, according to his country’s state news agency, coming a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.
Al-Sharaa, whose rebel forces overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year, is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Analysts noted this is the first visit by a Syrian president to the U.S. since Syria gained independence in 1946. Al-Sharaa previously addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September and met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the president’s Middle East tour in May.
U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that al-Sharaa might sign an agreement to join the international U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State. The State Department’s decision to delist him as a global terrorist was expected, with officials noting that his government had been cooperating on locating missing Americans and eliminating remaining chemical weapons.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the delisting recognized progress under al-Sharaa’s leadership after the fall of Assad, aiming to promote regional security, stability, and a Syrian-led political process.
Al-Sharaa joined al Qaeda roughly two decades ago and was arrested in Iraq in 2005, spending six years in U.S. and Iraqi custody before his release in 2011. He then led a Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate and was designated a terrorist in 2013, later renouncing the group in 2016. In November 2024, he led opposition forces in a major offensive that toppled the Assad regime. Al-Sharaa has spoken of the deep psychological trauma Syrians endured under Assad’s rule, noting the long-lasting impact on the nation’s generations.
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