In a turn of events few could have predicted just a year ago, Ahmed al-Sharaa—once known as a jihadist commander and a fugitive with a multimillion-dollar bounty on his head—strode into the White House last Monday as Syria’s president. The visit, confirmed by both American and Syrian officials, marks the first time since Syria’s independence in 1946 that a Syrian head of state has been received in Washington. For many, it’s a moment that upends decades of U.S. policy and reopens the debate over Syria’s place in the international community after more than a decade of isolation, sanctions, and brutal conflict.
According to Kuwait Times and other sources, al-Sharaa’s journey to the presidency is nothing short of extraordinary. Born in Riyadh in 1982, al-Sharaa’s early life unfolded in the shadowy world of jihadist militancy. He fought in Iraq with al-Qaeda affiliates, then returned to Syria as the country spiraled into civil war. By 2017, he was leading Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group that had broken with al-Qaeda and established a parallel administration in northwestern Syria, particularly in Idlib. Under his leadership, HTS administered public services, collected taxes, and issued identity cards—functions once reserved for the state itself.
The lightning campaign that brought al-Sharaa to power began in November 2024. Exploiting the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s forces, HTS seized Aleppo, Homs, and finally Damascus. On January 29, 2025, al-Sharaa was named Syria’s transitional president, suspending the 2012 constitution, dissolving the Ba’ath Party, and ordering all armed factions to integrate into a new national army. This insurgent-turned-statesman’s rapid ascent sent shockwaves through the region and the world.
Al-Sharaa’s first months in office have been marked by a flurry of international activity. In September 2025, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York—the first Syrian leader to do so in nearly 60 years—signaling a bid to reset Syria’s global relationships. Arab states, too, have publicly congratulated him, though many remain wary of the depth and durability of his transformation.
The White House meeting with President Donald Trump was not merely symbolic. According to BBC and diplomatic sources, it represented the opening of a new negotiating track between Washington and Damascus. The principle at play is “conditional openness”: the U.S. is willing to pursue cautious cooperation, provided Syria commits to regional security, counterterrorism, and a rebalancing of power in the Middle East. As an immediate outcome, Syria joined the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, reopened its embassy in Washington after more than 12 years, and saw a six-month suspension of the Caesar Act sanctions—measures imposed in 2019 that cannot be fully repealed without congressional approval. Military and security coordination between the two states has also resumed, particularly regarding the Syria–Iraq border and operations against remaining ISIS factions.
President Trump, striking a notably optimistic tone, declared that the United States “will do everything in its power to ensure Syria becomes a safe and prosperous country,” adding, “the time has come to open a new page with the Syrian people.” Yet, as The Guardian reports, the move has not been without controversy. Congress remains deeply divided on the Syrian regime, and senior Israeli officials have been lobbying to prevent a total lifting of sanctions, especially given recent transfers of Iranian weapons through Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon—transfers that al-Sharaa’s regime has done little to halt.
Security officials in Israel and the West have voiced strong criticism of what they see as a rush to rehabilitate al-Sharaa, erasing his past as a jihadist militant and overlooking recent atrocities committed against Syria’s Alawite and Druze minorities. “The invitation to the White House is the pinnacle of a process of political whitewashing,” one Israeli official told Haaretz, expressing concern that al-Sharaa, who once led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham under the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, could be deceiving the West. The same official warned that al-Sharaa is a “terrorist in a suit” who may be laying the groundwork for an even more extreme dictatorship.
Al-Sharaa’s efforts to rebrand himself as a reformer and statesman have not gone unnoticed. The U.S. formally dropped HTS’s terrorist designation after al-Sharaa met Trump in Riyadh in July 2025, and sanctions on the new government have been lifted. Trump described the Syrian leader as “young, attractive, and tough,” encouraging him to recognize Israel under the Abraham Accords. The image makeover continued with al-Sharaa’s appearance on CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” where his charismatic demeanor—when asked about Trump’s description, he quipped, “have you any doubt about that?”—went viral on social media, earning him the nickname “President Rizz.”
Despite these gestures, the contradictions of al-Sharaa’s rule are stark. His past as a militant leader continues to cast a long shadow, and the integration of HTS into the government raises questions about whether Syria’s governance will be genuinely inclusive or dominated by his former movement. Al-Sharaa has pledged a political transition, national dialogue, and elections, but has said this could take three to four years. Meanwhile, reports of sectarian violence and mass killings of minority communities present daunting challenges to any hope of unity or reconciliation.
Al-Sharaa’s relationship with Russia has also evolved in unexpected ways. Less than a month before his White House visit, he traveled to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin. Despite having fought against Russian-backed forces for years, al-Sharaa assured Putin that Syria would respect existing agreements, allowing Russia to retain its military bases at Tartus and Khmeimim, though the scale of their presence is now much reduced. For Moscow, maintaining a foothold in Syria remains strategically vital, even as its influence has waned since Assad’s fall and exile.
Western and regional powers remain divided in their approach. Some European leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, have engaged with al-Sharaa, seeking to advance refugee returns or secure a share of reconstruction opportunities. Others, including Russia and China, are more cautious, conditioning cooperation on dismantling the thousands of jihadist fighters loyal to al-Sharaa. Notably, Iran has been largely absent from the current diplomatic overtures, even as its weapons continue to flow through Syria.
Domestically, al-Sharaa faces the Herculean task of rebuilding a country shattered by war. He claims that “diversity in Syria is strength, not weakness,” but minorities—including Kurds, Druze, Alawites, and Christians—remain deeply skeptical of his fundamentalist rule, especially in light of recent violence. The Syrian interior ministry’s recent nationwide crackdown on ISIS sleeper cells, which resulted in over 70 arrests, was intended as both a security measure and a signal to international partners that the new government is serious about counterterrorism.
As Syria’s new leader navigates these treacherous waters, the world is left to wonder: is this the dawn of a new era for Syria, or merely a rebranding of old dangers? For now, Israel remains on high alert, refusing to join what it calls the Western “whitewashing game” and determined to safeguard its vital security interests. The international community, meanwhile, watches with a mix of hope, skepticism, and unease as Ahmed al-Sharaa’s improbable journey from jihadist to president continues to reshape the Middle East.
