Sharaa To Be First-Ever Syrian Leader To Visit White House

In a meeting no one could have predicted just a year ago, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is scheduled to visit U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on November 10. It will be the first time a Syrian leader has ever met with a U.S. president at the White House.

Sharaa is expected to sign on to the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, according to press reports ahead. One motivation for that may be the Islamic State suicide bombing at the Mar Elias church in Damascus in June that killed 25 people and wounded more than 60.

The meeting is also likely to focus on Syria’s relationship with Israel, as well as Sharaa’s ambition to remove the remaining U.S. sanctions on his country.

The State of Israel-Syria Relations

Israel initially adopted a hostile stance toward Shaara’s government, in light of his previous role as an al-Qaeda commander. Yet after Trump’s initial meeting with Shaara in Riyadh in May, the Israelis began to engage with Damascus. Negotiations over a security agreement that would further ease tensions are ongoing. Trump has expressed interest in bringing Syria into the Abraham Accords, yet Sharaa insists that “Syria’s situation is different” than other signatories because the “Golan Heights [are] under occupation.”

Instead, Damascus is demanding the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Syria, while Jerusalem wants the region demilitarized and plans to keep troops at Mount Hermon, a strategic site that allows Israel to monitor the Lebanon-Syria border. Hezbollah smuggles weapons through the area, and there is a significant Druze population that Israel wants to protect.

According to Reuters, “the United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel.” However, Syria’s official news agency published a denial by an unnamed official at the Foreign Ministry.

Sanctions Relief

Despite Trump removing most sanctions, it is the U.S. Congress that has the authority to repeal the Caesar Act, which sought to hold the Assad regime and its partners accountable for human rights violations. 

The Senate has already approved the repeal, and the House may approve the repeal’s inclusion in the consensus version of Congress’ annual defense bill. The repeal clause requires the White House to certify every six months that the Syrian government is meeting six conditions that include: protecting minorities; refraining from military action against neighboring states, including Israel; ending support for terrorist organizations; removing foreign fighters from government positions; and holding accountable those responsible for human rights abuses. If the White House cannot certify these conditions were met, the Senate repeal notes, “it is the sense of Congress” that sanctions should return — indicating that Congress may have an opinion, but no action is required.

The United States also sponsored a November 6 resolution at the UN Security Council that rescinded the designation of Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Khattab, as terrorists, paving the way for the United States and other countries to remove Sharaa and Khattab from their own blacklists. For now, Washington continues to list Syria as a State Sponsor of Terror, a designation the administration could reverse unilaterally.

Holding Sharaa Accountable for Massacres

Despite Sharaa’s calls for inclusivity, state security forces and allied militias targeted the country’s Alawite and Druze minorities in killing sprees that claimed upwards of a thousand lives each. There have been arrests but no trials. Jihadist formations also remain part of the security forces, along with units Washington previously sanctioned for atrocities. Preserving Syria’s unity and preventing another slaughter depends on accountability for these perpetrators, yet the Trump administration has shown intermittent concern at best. The meeting at the White House offers an opportunity to remind Sharaa that Washington lifted sanctions in the expectation that he would treat minorities fairly, marginalize extremists, cooperate in the campaign against ISIS, and resolve tensions with Israel.

 Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Ahmad and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Ahmad on X @AhmadA_Sharawi. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.