Syrian President Sharaa arrives at White House in historic first

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived at the White House on Monday for a landmark meeting with President Donald Trump, becoming the first Syrian leader to visit the Oval Office. 

Sharaa was not greeted by Trump at the entrance of the White House, a protocol typical for foreign leaders before meeting with the US president, and the two did not pose for a joint photo.

The talks mark a dramatic shift in US-Syrian relations nearly a year after Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat-Tahrir al Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last December, and come as Congress weighs whether to lift remaining sanctions on Damascus.

Trump has already suspended key sanctions for six months, but a full repeal remains uncertain amid opposition from lawmakers wary of granting Sharaa unconditional relief. 

As part of the US rapprochement effort, the Biden administration lifted a $10 million bounty on Shaara’s arrest shortly after the rebel offensive last December.

The Syrian leader is expected to urge US lawmakers to reconsider the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which many experts say is necessary to provide international investors with the confidence to do business in Syria. The World Bank said last month that rebuilding Syria after more than a decade of brutal civil war will cost an estimated $216 billion — nearly 10 times Syria’s gross domestic product last year.

Over the weekend, Sharaa met with Congressman Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee, who has raised concerns about lifting the Caesar Act. Mast is seen as the main holdout among lawmakers negotiating a compromise bill.

Trump and Sharaa have been expected to sign an agreement whereby Damascus would agree to join the US-led international coalition of nations collaborating to prevent the reemergence of the Islamic State (ISIS). The agreement is expected to formalize expanded intelligence cooperation against ISIS but is not expected to enable direct military partnership.

Sharaa is accompanied on the visit by Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Shaibani and other senior cabinet members. The last US president to hold a bilateral meeting with a Syrian leader was Bill Clinton, who met Hafez al-Assad in Geneva in 2000. Although Trump met Sharaa earlier this year in Saudi Arabia alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Monday’s meeting marks their first one-on-one talks.

This is a developing story and will be updated.