President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday in Riyadh, marking the first high-level contact between the U.S. and Syria in a quarter century and signaling a major shift in American foreign policy.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Council summit, came just one day after Trump announced the full lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria — a country long targeted by Washington over human rights violations, civil war, and its alliance with Iran.
“This is a step toward peace and rebuilding relations,” Trump told leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia. “We’re exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government, starting with this meeting and Secretary Rubio’s upcoming talks with the Syrian Foreign Minister.”
Flanked by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump’s conversation with al-Sharaa was described as informal but historic. The last such dialogue between the nations’ leaders occurred in 2000 under former President Bill Clinton.
Trump said he was ordering the sanctions lifted “to give them a fresh start,” describing the economic penalties as “really crippling, very powerful.” The administration’s move stunned many foreign policy watchers and sparked celebration in the streets of Damascus.
Video footage and images out of Syria’s capital showed cheering crowds waving Syrian flags and posters of Trump, chanting support for the U.S. decision to end what one Syrian official called “a decade of suffocation.”
A statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the move, calling it “a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people as we seek to emerge from a long and painful chapter of war.”
The announcement is part of Trump’s broader push to realign U.S. interests in the region, with Syria seen as a potential strategic partner rather than a pariah state under its new transitional leadership. This marks a significant departure from previous administrations’ policies of isolation and condemnation.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with his Syrian counterpart later this week in Turkey. According to the State Department, the focus will be on security cooperation, counterterrorism, and economic reconstruction.
Critics have already begun raising concerns about the decision, warning that normalization could send the wrong message to other regimes. But the Trump administration is betting that re-engagement will stabilize a region that’s long been destabilized by war and proxy conflict.
Trump, confident in the impact of the move, emphasized the humanitarian dimension. “I felt very strongly this would give them a chance,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy anyway, but now they have a strong chance. And it was my honor to do so.”
With this latest maneuver, Trump appears to be not only reshaping America’s approach to the Middle East but also staking a claim to legacy-making diplomacy—something few presidents have accomplished with Syria. Whether this gamble pays off remains to be seen, but the door to a new U.S.-Syria chapter is now open.
