The meeting, the first between U.S. and Syrian leaders in 25 years, was hailed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "historic." U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Tuesday ahead of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit, a day after announcing the lifting of all U.S. sanctions on Damascus. The meeting marked the first direct encounter between American and Syrian leaders in a quarter century.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined the 33-minute conversation via video call, alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported. Erdogan praised Trump’s sanctions decision as “historic,” highlighting it as a key Turkish foreign policy objective. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo of the meeting on X, saying Trump had thanked both Erdogan and the crown prince for their friendship, and had told al-Sharaa that he has “a tremendous opportunity to do something historic” in Syria.
According to Leavitt, Trump encouraged al-Sharaa to sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel, expel all foreign terrorists from Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, assist the United States in preventing an ISIS resurgence and take full responsibility for ISIS detention centers in northeast Syria. (Ed note: It looks like Trump did meet with the leader of Syria.) (Read more)
