In a move that has stunned both longtime Middle East observers and the broader international community, Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, once a notorious al-Qaeda fighter and US detainee, was welcomed to the White House by President Donald Trump on November 10, 2025. This historic meeting, the first of its kind since Syria’s independence in 1946, signaled a dramatic shift in both US-Syrian relations and the regional fight against extremism.
Just days before his arrival in Washington, Sharaa’s name was removed from the US terrorism list—a remarkable turnaround for a man who not long ago had a $10 million US bounty on his head. Sharaa, now 43, rose to power after leading rebel forces that ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), had previously splintered from al-Qaeda in 2016, focusing instead on battling Assad’s regime and, notably, fighting against the so-called Islamic State (IS) group inside Syria.
During the closed-door White House talks, President Trump praised Sharaa’s fortitude. “He’s a very strong leader. He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy. I like him. I get along with him,” Trump told reporters, according to DW and AFP. “People said he’s had a rough past, we’ve all had rough pasts... And I think, frankly, if you didn’t have a rough past, you wouldn’t have a chance.”
Following the meeting, the Syrian minister of information announced that Damascus would join the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, becoming its 90th member. This partnership, however, comes with a caveat: Syria’s participation will not include “military components,” as clarified by both Syrian and US officials. Instead, the focus will be on counterterrorism, intelligence sharing, and broader security and economic coordination. In a further sign of thawing relations, Washington will allow Syria to resume operations at its embassy in the US capital, a move designed to foster deeper cooperation against extremist threats.
The timing could hardly be more pressing. According to the Middle East Institute, between 2,500 and 3,000 IS loyalists remain active in Syria, and their activities have surged in the year since Assad’s ouster. The remnants of IS now operate in small, agile cells—often just ten fighters—engaging in rapid night ambushes, planting improvised explosive devices, and carrying out lone wolf attacks. The group reportedly offers new recruits $400 a month, using both blackmail and appeals to local grievances to rebuild its ranks. “The more internal fighting among rebel groups and the more the de facto government has to deal with attacks from neighboring [countries], the more favorable the situation becomes for ISIS,” Tanya Mehra of the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism wrote in a recent analysis for ICCT.
Syrian security forces have responded with vigor. In the weekend before Sharaa’s White House visit, they launched over 60 raids across the country, arresting 71 individuals linked to IS. Some of these operations were reportedly based on US intelligence, highlighting the already growing cooperation between Damascus and Washington even before Syria’s official entry into the coalition.
Yet, the implications of Syria’s new role extend far beyond the battlefield. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who control northern Syria and have been the US’s primary ground partners against IS since 2014, now face a diminished status. The SDF currently manage camps and prisons holding an estimated 45,000 IS members and their families. With Damascus now an official coalition partner, the SDF’s leverage in negotiations with the Syrian government is expected to weaken. “This undermines the SDF’s exclusive status as the coalition’s [only] official partner in Syria, thereby weakening its leverage in negotiations with the Syrian government,” MEI researchers told DW.
Still, some experts see potential for cooperation. “The SDF have been crucial in combatting ‘IS’ and I don’t necessarily see al-Sharaa joining the anti-Daesh coalition as a step back,” Mehra argued to DW. “The government in Damascus will hopefully rely on integrated SDF fighters who have considerable experience in combatting ‘IS.’”
Sharaa’s visit to Washington was not just about military alliances. In an interview with Fox News after his meeting with Trump, Sharaa addressed the prospect of peace with Israel—a perennial flashpoint in Middle Eastern diplomacy. “We are not going to enter into a negotiation directly right now,” Sharaa said, citing ongoing disputes over the Golan Heights. However, he left the door open to US-facilitated talks in the future: “Maybe the United States administration, with President Trump, will help us reach this kind of negotiation.”
President Trump, for his part, cast Syria as a “big part” of his broader Middle East peace plan, which aims to bolster fragile ceasefires elsewhere, including between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “Having a stable and successful Syria is very important to all countries in the Region,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform after the meeting.
The visit also brought tangible diplomatic and economic dividends for Syria. Trump extended the waiver on Caesar Act sanctions for another six months, following an earlier suspension after his May 2025 meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia. The US administration is now reportedly considering a permanent repeal of the Caesar Act and related human rights sanctions, although concerns remain among some US policymakers about Syria’s human rights record and the risk of the country becoming a hub for terror finance.
Analysts at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) have highlighted the stakes. David Adesnik, FDD’s Vice President of Research, warned, “Will Sharaa do as much for America as Trump is doing for him? The administration is backing the permanent repeal of the Caesar Act and its human rights sanctions, even though there have been two massacres of ethnic minorities on Sharaa’s watch, carried out, in part, by government troops and allied militias.” Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at FDD, added, “The real tests for Sharaa will be in his performance regarding Israel, Turkey and Syria’s own minority communities. We must hold his feet to the fire on these issues.”
There are also persistent rumors, reported by Reuters and local media, that the US may establish a military base near Damascus, possibly at Al-Seen air base, about 80 kilometers from the capital. Such a move, observers say, would not only cement US influence in Syria but also allay Israeli fears and counterbalance the presence of Iran, Russia, and Turkey in the region. “All signs point toward a US vision of integrating the new Syria firmly into the Washington-led regional order,” Marc Lynch, a professor at George Washington University, wrote in Foreign Policy this week. He called the Trump administration’s approach “one of the shrewdest things” it has done in the Middle East.
Still, significant challenges remain. Sharaa’s ability to bridge Syria’s deep intercommunal divisions, manage relations with the SDF and Israel, and prevent the resurgence of extremist groups will determine whether this new partnership delivers lasting stability. As Ahmad Sharawi, an FDD research analyst, put it, “It’s essential that the United States establishes clear benchmarks to ensure Syria moves towards lasting stability and avoids sliding into civil strife.”
The world will be watching closely as Syria’s astonishing transformation—from international pariah to White House guest and coalition partner—unfolds in the months ahead.
