Trump meets new Syrian leader in Saudi Arabia

President Trump on Wednesday met with new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his swing through Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a signal of thawing relations between the two countries following the fall of former President Bashar Assad.

The meeting lasted just more than 30 minutes, ahead of a Gulf Cooperation Council Summit. Trump was joined in-person by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and via telephone by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“We are currently exploring normalizing with Syria’s new government,” Trump said after the meeting, according to reporters traveling with him.

“I’ve seen such progress,” he added. “The whole world is watching the Middle East.”

Trump on the call encouraged al-Sharaa “to do a great job for the Syrian people” and to sign the Abraham Accords with Israel, a reference to Trump’s policy related to normalizing relations between Middle Eastern countries and Israel.

He also said his message included rejecting Syrian and Palestinian terrorists from the countries and to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Later, on his way to Doha, Qatar, Trump told reporters on the plane that his meeting with the Syrian president went “great,” saying he is a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

“He’s got a real shot at holding it together. I spoke with President Erdoğan, who is very friendly with him. He feels she’s got a shot of doing a good job. It’s a torn-up country,” Trump said.

Trump, when asked if there was any potential for a Trump Tower in Damascus, as some reports have suggested, said: “No. That, I haven’t heard. We’ll have to wait a little while until things calm down, a little while with the country.”

The president announced Tuesday that he would be rolling back sanctions on Syria after the crown prince and Erdoğan urged him to do so.

Al-Sharaa thanked Trump, the crown prince and Erdoğan for their efforts to put together the meeting and recognized “shared U.S.-Syrian interests in countering terrorism and eliminating chemical weapons,” according to Leavitt. Additionally, he affirmed his commitment to the 1974 disengagement with Israel and said he hoped Syria could be a link to facilitating trade between East and West.

He also encouraged U.S. companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas.

“I felt very strongly that this would give them a chance,” Trump told reporters Tuesday about lifting sanctions. “Gives them a good, strong chance. … It was my honor to do so.”

Also on the call, Erdoğan and the crown prince commended Trump for lifting sanctions on Syria, according to Leavitt. Trump then thanked the two leaders for their friendship and told al-Sharaa that there is an opportunity to “to do something historic in his country.” The Russian-Ukraine war and the war in Gaza was also discussed, Leavitt said.

The sanctions had been imposed against Assad’s regime amid a brutal civil war, and his government was driven out of office by Syrian rebels late last year. Trump also said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would meet later this week in Turkey with the new Syrian foreign minister.

Updated at 7:28 a.m. EDT