From a $10M bounty to a White House deal: Syria’s al-Sharaa gets strongest sanctions lifted
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has, in a short period of time, gone from an al-Qaida terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head to the leader of Syria, meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House. The new Syrian president has succeeded in convincing the leader of the country that formerly hunted him to remove some of his country’s most strict economic sanctions.
Some time after a high-stakes meeting with Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, Trump’s diplomatic team extended an invitation to the new Syrian government to meet in Washington, which was later accepted.
During the Nov. 10 meeting, Trump and al-Sharaa discussed developing ties between the two countries and helping get the embattled nation back on its feet after 14 years of war.
A tumultuous past
Al-Sharaa, once known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, is no stranger to controversy. He was once part of groups affiliated with al-Qaida before formally cutting ties with them in 2017 and forming the group that toppled the Assad regime in December 2024.
Once Assad fled to Russia, al-Sharaa set to work dismantling the decades of power the Assad family exerted over the country, which has also come with its share of controversy.
In March, several reportedly rogue citizens and former rebel combatants attacked and killed hundreds of ethnic Alawite Syrians, formerly Assad’s power base.
Then, Israel pushed further into Syria, bombing numerous weapons depots and former government positions, even hitting the capital of Damascus.
Most recently, al-Sharaa and his forces have clashed with Syria’s Druze minority in the southeast of the country, a group that seems to have backing from Israel as well.
That’s not to mention the de facto independent Rojava enclave in the northeast manned by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as well as a number of U.S. troops, stationed there.
How is the present going?
Regardless of the issues at home, al-Sharaa is still seeking help from nations across the world, including meetings with the EU and Russia, before Monday’s White House visit. This marks the first time a Syrian leader has set foot in the White House since the country gained its independence from France in 1946.
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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is the first Syrian leader to meet with a sitting U.S. president in the White House since Syria’s independence from France in 1946.
After the meeting, Trump announced his intention to halt Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, which are seen as some of the harshest sanctions on the country, except for transactions involving U.S. enemies like Iran and Russia. American troops are also slated to be in on the deal, with Reuters reporting that the U.S. will establish a military presence at a Damascus airbase. That may be part of a broader security pact that the Trump administration hopes will lead to peace between Syria and Israel.
Syria realigning for the future?
Western-aligned nations seem to have some optimism about al-Sharaa, with Trump saying, “We want to see Syria become a country that’s very successful, and we think this leader can do it,” according to Al Jazeera.
He also teased “some announcements on Syria” after the meeting, including an agreement between the U.S. and Syria to integrate Rojava’s SDF into the Syrian army. If accepted by the group, it could further put the puzzle pieces of the country back together.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
