'Young, attractive guy': Trump praises new Syrian leader after lifting US sanctions

14 May 2025, 16:00 by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ie

LAST UPDATE | 12 hrs ago

DONALD TRUMP APPEARS to be a fan of Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa- describing him as a “young, attractive” and “tough guy” following a meeting between the leaders in Saudi Arabia.

The meeting was the first between the leaders of the US and Syria in 25 years.

The US president met Sharaa, a former militant who fought against US forces in Iraq and had a $10m US bounty on his head until December 2024, for about half an hour before a conference of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

It comes a day after Trump kicked off his Middle East tour where he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh yesterday.

Wearing matching suits, Trump and al-Sharaa shook hands as they met jointly with bin Salman, and, by video link, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the key supporter of the new government in Damascus.

After his discussion with Sharaa, Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One that the Syrian president was a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter”.

He said he thought Sharaa had a “real shot at holding [Syria] together” and that the Syrian president had agreed to eventually join the Abraham accords, which would normalise Syrian ties with Israel.

The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco signed the US-brokered accords in 2020.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia had both previously advocated reconciliation with Syria, but the move is the latest to put Trump at odds with Israel, which has voiced pessimism over al-Sharaa and ramped up strikes to degrade the longtime adversary’s military capabilities.

Trump also asked Sharaa during the meeting to deport Palestinian militants and for the new Syrian authorities to take control of camps for captured Islamic State fighters, currently run by Kurdish guerrillas opposed by Turkey, the White House said.

President Donald Trump at a group photo session during the Gulf Co-operation Council summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

During a speech at an investment forum in the Saudi capital yesterday, Trump extended the diplomatic hand of friendship to war-ravaged Syria by declaring the removal of sanctions against it.

“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said.

“What I do for the crown prince,” he added, before being joined on stage by Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman, who along with Turkey has backed the Sunni Islamists who toppled Bashar al-Assad in December.

Trump has been meeting with leaders and representatives from the six Gulf Cooperation Council states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

The White House said that Riyadh would purchase nearly $142 billion in arms in what it described as the largest-ever weapons deal.

Washington said that Saudi company DataVolt was set to pour $20 billion in artificial intelligence-related projects in the United States.

Tech companies including Google will also invest in both countries – likely welcome news for Saudi Arabia which has long faced restrictions securing advanced American technology.