Donald Trump (L) with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa | Photo credit: Syrian government
US President Donald Trump on Monday met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House.
The historic visit marked the first time a Syrian president has ever visited the White House.
Breaking from typical protocol, reporters and cameras were kept out of the meeting.
Al-Sharaa is the former leader of al-Qaeda, US-designated terror group and was once wanted as a terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head until December 2024.
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He has also served time in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House comes just weeks after he attended the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, a move analysts say is defining his transformation from jihadist to global statesman.
Ahead of his arrival in Washington, the US removed sanctions it had previously placed on the Syrian leader.
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The US also lifted the global terrorist designations previously placed on al-Sharaa and Anas Khattab, Syria’s interior minister.
Trump once hailed the 43-year-old Syrian leader as a “young, attractive guy” with a “very strong past” after they briefly met in May during the US president’s Middle East tour.
Subsequently, Trump ordered the lifting of some of the crippling US sanctions on Syria.
Al-Sharaa was named as Syria’s president for a transitional period in January after armed opposition forces initiated a large-scale offensive against government troops, forcing then-President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia.
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