During his sit-down with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, President Donald Trump was asked if he would remove Syria from the State Department’s state sponsors of terrorism list, which brings a range of sanctions.
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“I think I will, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” Trump said. “He’s done a great job,” Trump added, referring to al-Sharaa.
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Trump spoke warmly about al-Sharaa, calling him a strong and respected leader who brought together a country that was “a real mess, very disjointed.”
Syria has been on the list since 1979. Some U.S. lawmakers have called for removing Syria from the list, citing improvements after the 2024 ouster of Bashar Assad.
Trump says oil prices rise when the U.S. attacks Iran
The U.S. president said oil prices were rising Wednesday after military attacks intensified with Iran in a troubling sign for peace talks.
“Any time we hit them, it goes up a little bit — $2,” Trump told reporters. “As oil goes, so goes everything else.”
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The president has taken conflicting stances on the energy price bump caused by the Iran war, saying it wasn’t a consideration for ending the war and then touting price declines after an interim deal was announced in June.
But Trump’s math was somewhat off. U.S. oil futures were trading Wednesday morning at roughly $75 a barrel, an increase of about $5.
Al-Sharaa thanks Trump for lifting sanctions
Al-Sharaa thanked Trump for “the historic decision to lift the sanctions,” saying “the entire Syrian people thank President Trump.”
Trump met al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2025 months after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since then, his administration has steadily eased U.S. sanctions on Syria.
Ahead of meeting Trump Wednesday, al-Sharaa met with a U.S. congressional delegation that was also in Ankara for the NATO summit, according to Syrian state media.
Trump appears to have cooled on the idea of getting Syria to fight Hezbollah
Sitting across from al-Sharaa, Trump gave a cautious response when asked about his earlier suggestion that Syria should lead the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“They could help, we’ll find out,” Trump said. “I think we’re making a lot of progress.”
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Al-Sharaa wasn’t asked about it at their one-on-one meeting.
Trump raised the idea at the G7 summit last month, saying he thought Syria would do a better job than Israel. Days later, he again criticized Israel’s handling of the situation and said he was “close to giving it to Syria.”
Al-Sharaa has previously said he has no interest in taking on that role.
