Trump Welcomes Ahmed al-Sharaa as a New Ally in the Middle East

Once held in a prison run by US forces in Iraq and later head of al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, Sharaa now, as interim head of state, poses for photographs with presidents and prime ministers from across the globe.

Since 43-year-old Sharaa took command of the rebel forces that toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad in December, President Donald Trump has become one of his most ardent supporters. The rapprochement reflects not only Syria’s strategic value to Washington but also Trump’s evident personal affinity for him.

“Tough guy,” Trump said after their first meeting in May. “Strong, a fighter.”

During his visit to Washington, Sharaa aims to deepen Syria’s partnership with the United States, which has already yielded tangible results: the lifting of sanctions imposed on Assad’s regime and US mediation in talks with Sharaa’s rivals at home and abroad.

This week he was removed from the UN sanctions list, and the US administration confirmed its intention to bring Syria into the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, which remains a threat. Sharaa’s faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formally severed ties with al-Qaeda back in 2017.

On Friday, 7 November, the State Department announced that Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, and Syria’s interior minister, Anas Khattab, had been delisted as global terrorists “in recognition of the progress achieved by the Syrian leadership since Bashar al-Assad’s departure”.

Trump pledged to lift the Assad-era sanctions after meeting Sharaa in May in Saudi Arabia. The move is critical for a country struggling to rebuild after a devastating civil war. The World Bank estimates that Syria will need at least $216 billion for reconstruction—a “conservative estimate”.

Easing sanctions would reopen Syria’s access to international finance, restore its ability to operate through the global banking system and import essential goods for reconstruction, healthcare and other sectors.

Sharaa’s government is also pressing Congress to fully repeal the 2019 Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which imposed sweeping sanctions on the Assad regime. Although the Trump administration has suspended their enforcement, the threat of reimposition remains a powerful deterrent for US companies considering work in Syria, notes Mouaz Moustafa of the NGO Syrian Emergency Task Force, which had lobbied for the law. In his words, these sanctions have become “a looming shadow that paralyses any initiative” and slows the country’s recovery.

Skeptics, however, point to surges of sectarian violence that have claimed thousands of lives over the past year and undermined the new president’s pledges to protect minorities and govern on inclusive principles.

In the two most brutal outbreaks of violence—on Syria’s coastal strip and in the south—security forces under Sharaa’s command were directly implicated in mass killings. According to judges in Damascus, the authorities, having promised to hold those responsible to account, launched prosecutions against individual members of the security services several months ago.

Sectarian bloodshed, in the view of Michael Hanna, director of the US program at the International Crisis Group, has become “a dangerous challenge” to Syria’s transition and could “erode international support if Damascus is not careful”. While much of the global community has turned a blind eye, eager to bring Syria back into diplomatic circulation after years of isolation, “patience is not infinite”, he warned.

At the same time, the United States has a stake in consolidating Sharaa’s authority, seeing in it a chance to scale back the deployment of American forces that remain in Syria as part of the coalition against Islamic State.

To that end, the Trump administration has acted as broker between Sharaa’s government and the Syrian Democratic Forces—the Kurdish militia that served as Washington’s main partner in the fight against Islamist militants in the northeast. The agreement signed in March provides for the integration of the SDF into the Syrian armed forces under Damascus’s command.

Washington has also tried to secure a security arrangement between the Syrian government and Israel. After the fall of Assad’s regime, Israeli forces took control of parts of southern Syria, established military bases and demanded the creation of a demilitarised zone south of Damascus on security grounds.

Sharaa has said he is prepared to accept a deal that would restore Syrian territories seized after December, but he rejects the notion of a broader normalisation with Israel that the Trump administration is urging on other states in the region.

Over the past year, amid an active diplomatic campaign, Sharaa has secured backing from a number of new partners, including former adversaries such as Russia, which for many years supported Assad and fought against rebel factions, including those once led by the current president.

Yet, as Hanna notes, the Syrian leader “has concluded that he needs the support of the United States” in order to secure a “green light” for financial assistance from the Gulf states and to gain other advantages, including leverage over Israel to halt strikes on Syrian territory.

“All of that requires Washington’s attention and goodwill,” he added.