‘Tremendous Opportunity’: Trump Sets New Course for US-Syria Relations

President Trump bucked critics in his administration and security hawks in Israel in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria and embrace its new leader, a U.S.-designated terrorist who formerly had ties with al Qaeda and the Islamic State group (ISIS).

Trump’s decision is a hard-won victory for humanitarian advocates, supportive American lawmakers and Gulf and Arab leaders who view the new government in Damascus as a historic opportunity to reshape the Middle East, following the ousting of Syria’s dictator Bashar Assad in December.

“There are different centers of power and figures within the [Trump] administration today and the White House who are very strongly against this idea,” said Ibrahim Al-Assil, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“But also the region, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other figures in the administration are pushing more towards an opening with the government in Damascus,” he added. Speaking during a panel discussion on Tuesday, Al-Assil reacted in real time to Trump’s lifting of sanctions as rare good news for a region often referred to for its conflict and heartbreak.

“They want to shape the moment, and I think that’s smart and important, and to make sure that the United States doesn’t miss this opportunity of having Syria that’s oriented more towards the West and on a trajectory for peace, stability and economic growth.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has carried out a bombing campaign in Syria since Assad’s ousting. While the strikes initially focused on destroying Assad’s weapon storage facilities, the new government in Damascus has criticized the ongoing campaign as a dangerous escalation. On May 2, Israeli forces struck near the Syrian presidential palace.

Netanyahu has pushed for keeping Syria weak and decentralized.

But the president favored arguments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and allies including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that engaging with Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is worthwhile.

“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump jested during his speech to the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, after announcing he was lifting sanctions. The president received a standing ovation from Prince Mohammed and the crowd of high-powered CEOs at the forum.

The following day, Trump shook hands with al-Sharaa, a powerful symbol of U.S. legitimization of a man who once had a $10 million bounty on his head as the leader of the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The meeting marked the first public engagement between an American president and a Syrian leader since former President Clinton met Hafez Assad in Geneva in 2000.

Al-Sharaa has sought to demonstrate his turn from terrorist to statesman in the five months since HTS succeeded in a lightning assault that overthrew the Assad regime.

Advocates say the country is on a potential path to stability. Despite some instances of sectarian violence, unresolved issues of inclusive governance, needed reforms in law and questions over commitment to counterterrorism, al-Sharaa is appealing to Trump and the West as Syria’s preferred partner compared with Russia, Iran and China.

“What we did was try to convey that message directly to President Trump,” said Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, who has led at least three delegations to Syria since Assad’s fall.

Moustafa is an advocate for ending U.S. sanctions that he helped develop. He was one of the driving forces behind the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, sanctions legislation that worked to economically isolate the Assad regime over its human rights atrocities.

But Moustafa sees an unprecedented moment for Syria’s future. He met al-Sharaa earlier this month for nearly four hours, leading a delegation that included members of Syria’s exiled (but returning) Jewish community, a woman whose father had been disappeared and killed by the Assad regime and an oil and gas executive, exploring U.S. business opportunities in the country.

“What the Syrian president wanted to convey to President Trump is that Syria sees America as a partner, that Syrian values and Syrian people are closer to American values compared to China or Russia — who murdered them — and both the Syrian government and Syrian people look towards President Trump as the hope of lifting sanctions, hope of a new partner to keep Iran and Russia and China and Assad out forever.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin was a key ally and enabler of Assad’s regime over the course of the civil war that started in 2011, and he provided refuge for the former Syrian leader after he fled the country.

Trump did not indicate in his speech what actions the administration would take next, whether to issue a waiver for Caesar sanctions, lift sanctions on Syria’s central bank — which would allow for international transactions — or remove Syria from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

During his meeting with al-Sharaa, Trump issued five conditions: to establish ties with Israel, tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of ISIS and assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in northeast Syria.

The U.S. maintains about 1,400 troops in northeast Syria as part of the counter-ISIS mission, down from 2,000 in December. Trump has long talked about bringing U.S. troops home from Syria.

But some of these asks may not be in al-Sharaa’s power to deliver.

Netanyahu reportedly pushed Trump not to lift sanctions. The Israeli leader said his bombing campaign in Syria is in part to protect the Druze community there — Israel has a small but significant Druze community. In April, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would remain in a buffer zone between Syria and the Israel-controlled Golan Heights to prevent any potential cross-border attacks.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) met al-Sharaa in April. He said the Syrian president affirmed that the new Syrian government does not seek conflict with Israel and is open to joining the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates that Trump brokered in his first term.

“His comments were that he didn’t want to see Syria split up into regions. … We have to negotiate the border and also that Israel would have to stop bombing any assets,” Stutzman said of al-Sharaa’s remarks. Stutzman made his remarks in an interview with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

“It wasn’t extreme in his request, it wasn’t like he was throwing it way out there that it was almost impossible to reach.”

The new Syrian government has support in Congress. Democrats and Republicans have advocated for at least an easing of sanctions to give Syria a chance at stabilization — preventing a financial collapse; providing consistent electricity; and allowing for reconstruction, the diaspora community to send money and refugees to return to the country.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said she applauds the Trump administration for saying it’ll lift sanctions. She said it provides an opportunity to box out Iran and Russia from reviving a presence in the country.

Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is also an advocate for easing sanctions but provided a more measured tone, speaking on Fox News on Wednesday.

“It needs to be watched very closely; it needs to be monitored very closely,” he said.

“Right now, they have a tremendous opportunity that President Trump’s giving them, and I hope we are able to take advantage of that, but also, they’re going to have to meet the goals that we’ve given them.”