Trump praises Syrian leader al-Sharaa after his historic White House visit
Kyiv • UNN
US President Donald Trump praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after his first visit to the White House. The meeting took place after sanctions were lifted from the former Al-Qaeda terrorist.
US President Donald Trump praised Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday after the Arab head of state's first-ever visit to the White House. This was reported by The New York Post, according to UNN.
Details
The publication indicates that the meeting of the leaders took place a few days after the US and the United Nations lifted sanctions on the former Al-Qaeda terrorist, for whose head a $10 million bounty had previously been placed.
The Syrian leader called his almost two-hour meeting with Trump "amazing" and said that the US president gave him a hat with the inscription "Make America Great Again."
After the fall of the former regime, Syria entered a new era, and this will be based on a new strategy with the United States.
According to the authors, 43-year-old al-Sharaa walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to greet dozens of supporters after an approximately 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office, which was closed to the press. The group held signs calling on Congress to permanently lift the sanctions that the Trump administration temporarily lifted earlier this year.
He's a very strong leader. He comes from a very difficult background, and he's a tough guy. I liked him. I get along with him. We're going to do everything we can to make Syria succeed because it's part of the Middle East. We have peace in the Middle East now. ... We all had a difficult past. I think, frankly, if you didn't have a difficult past, you wouldn't have a chance.
Meanwhile, the interim government of Syria published photographs showing al-Sharaa sitting in the Oval Office next to US Vice President J.D. Vance, who served during the Iraq War, while the honored guest was planting roadside bombs there on behalf of Al-Qaeda.
That's a thing of the past. We didn't actively discuss it. We talked about the present and the future. We talked about investment opportunities in the future in Syria, so that Syria is no longer seen as a security threat. Now it is seen as a geopolitical ally.
The media adds that this visit was the latest step in the dramatic transformation of al-Sharaa's image "from a turbaned jihadist to a US-backed head of state" after his rebels defeated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a surprise offensive last December.
Recall
The US Treasury Department announced a temporary easing of sanctions against Syria for 180 days amid the historic visit of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House.