Deadly Strike on U.S. Troops Tests Trump’s Counter-ISIS Plan — And His Trust in Syria’s New Leader

A deadly insider attack that killed two U.S. service members in Syria is prompting fresh scrutiny of the Trump administration’s counter-ISIS approach and its rapid embrace of Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

While Republican lawmakers largely urge a stronger campaign to contain ISIS, the shooting has exposed vulnerabilities inside Syria’s fledgling security institutions and raised new questions about whether the U.S. can rely on Syrian forces as the administration seeks to stabilize the country.

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But national security specialists caution that the administration may be moving too quickly to normalize ties with Syria’s new leadership. Michael Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute of National Security of America (JINSA), said Washington appears reluctant to confront the fact that the shooter came from within al-Sharaa’s own security forces.

“The administration is very invested right now in Shaara, and seems to want to minimize that the killer was from Shaara’s security forces,” Makovsky said. 

He warned that “a lot of bad people” remain embedded in the new Syrian institutions and that early cooperation should not come with premature sanctions relief. “His security forces have committed a lot of atrocities against minorities … I’m worried the administration is not focused on that.”

Trump has vowed retribution for what he called “an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria.” But the White House has not clarified what specific steps it is considering.

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