Trump shocks again: He lifts sanctions on Syria

Trump said today in Saudi Arabia that he will start normalizing relations and lifting sanctions on the new Syrian government in order to give the country "a chance for peace".

He said that he took steps towards rapprochement at the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"There is a new government that hopefully will succeed. I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special," Trump said, according to the Associated Press.

Trump will meet with the new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, the White House announced today.

As he prepared to leave Washington, Trump said he was considering lifting sanctions on the Syrian government, adding that the Turkish president had urged him to do so.

The United States has not yet recognized the new Syrian government led by al-Sharaa, which toppled former president Bashar al-Assad in December.

Former US President Joe Biden left the decision on recognizing the Syrian government to the Trump administration, and Trump had previously expressed doubts about al-Sharaa, since his militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was created as a branch of Al Qaeda, reports AP.

Al-Sharaa will become the first Syrian leader to meet with a US president since Hafez al-Assad met with Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000. The U.S. once offered a $10 million reward for information on the whereabouts of al-Sharaa because of his ties to al-Qaeda.

In Syria, after the start of the conflict in 2011, Al-Sharaa led the Al-Qaeda branch formerly known as the Al-Nusra Front. He later changed the group's name to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and cut ties with al-Qaeda.