Trump Hosts Syrian President at White House

The visit marks the first time a Syrian head of state has visited the White House since the country gained independence from France in 1946.

(Left) U.S. President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025; (Right) Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa in Ankara, Turkey, on Feb. 4, 2025. Francisco Seco/AP Photo

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump welcomed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Nov. 10 in the first visit by a Syrian leader to the White House.

Al-Sharaa took office in December 2024 after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, following a 13-year civil war that ended in victory for the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The meeting comes six months after Trump and Sharaa met in Saudi Arabia and days after the United Nations and the United States lifted terrorism-related sanctions on the Syrian leader.

Sharaa took office in December 2024 after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, following a 13-year civil war that ended with a victory by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

HTS was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in 2018, but was removed from the list this year.

The group began as the al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorist group founded by Osama bin Laden.

Last December, the United States dropped a $10 million counter-terror bounty against Sharaa, who was previously known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani. The decision coincided with a U.S. diplomatic visit to Syria on Dec. 20, 2024.

A now-deleted bounty notice against Sharaa notes his role in founding the Nusra Front and leading the group through its reorganization into HTS. The bounty notice further stated that the group had taken part in kidnappings and killings in Syria over the years, including the 2015 slayings of 20 Druze villagers in the Idlib province.

Last week, the U.N. Security Council lifted terror-related sanctions designations on him and Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab.

The U.S.-sponsored U.N. Security Council resolution, adopted last week, removed Sharaa and Khattab from sanctions targeting members and supporters of terrorist groups ISIS and al-Qaeda.

The resolution also welcomed Syria’s pledges to allow humanitarian access, combat terrorism, and protect human rights.

In June, Trump rescinded unilateral U.S. sanctions on Syria via executive order, saying it was “a chance at greatness” for the Syrian people, but he kept sanctions on Assad and other leaders.

The United States revoked the designation of HTS as a foreign terrorist group in July.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Nov. 4 that the meeting between the president and Sharaa is part of Trump’s efforts to meet “anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace.”

Days before the meeting, Trump said Syria had made “a lot of progress.”

“I think he’s doing a very good job. It’s a tough neighborhood, and he’s a tough guy, but I got along with him very well,” he said.

The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, addresses a crowd at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 8, 2024. Aref Tammawi/AFP

Trump and Sharaa last met in May in Riyadh, where the U.S. president urged his Syrian counterpart to join the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states.

After the meeting, Trump announced he would lift all sanctions on Syria.

The toughest measures, known as the Caesar Sanctions Act, can only be repealed by Congress. The administration has backed their removal before the end of 2025, but delays linked to U.S. budget disputes could slow progress.

Sharaa will “emphasize the importance of lifting economic sanctions, particularly the Caesar Act, to allow for Syria’s economic recovery and investment growth,” Syria’s Ministry of Information said in a Nov. 9 statement.

The Syrian leader is expected to reaffirm his commitment to continuing the fight against terrorism and promoting regional security, the ministry added.

On Nov. 9, Sharaa met with the Syrian community in Washington, joined by U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, said Barrack reaffirmed U.S. support for Syria’s reintegration into the regional and international community.

In September, Sharaa addressed the U.N. General Assembly–the first Syrian president to do so since 1967–calling for full sanctions relief and highlighting Syria’s reconstruction needs.