How Trump welcomed former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa to the White House

A few years ago, if someone had told you that the US president would be photographed at the White House shaking hands with a man who was a former member of al-Qaeda, an insurgent against US forces in Iraq and who led one of the largest Syrian Islamic armed groups, you might have balked.

But that’s exactly what happened when donald trump welcomed his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Shara Washington On November 10, al-Sharaa became the first Syrian leader in history to be invited white House,

Al-Sharaa’s surprising rise Power Have seen him become an almost mythical figure middle eastern regional PoliticsAs head of an armed group called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), he overthrew the Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad in 2024 and The family’s 50-year rule ended,

In the process, HTS also brought Syrian civil war To end. It was a brutal 13-year period in which more than 600,000 people lost their lives and more than 6.5 million were displaced.

Al-Shara’s extensive roots are complex al Qaeda family, but he has long taken steps to distance himself from that legacy. His approach has been described by some observers as “shifting from jihad to politics”.

During the latter half of the war, HTS was confined to its powerbase in the northwestern governorate of Idlib. The group began to eschew terrorism by publicly breaking ties with al-Qaeda and instead sought to earn trust and provide a legitimate basis for governance.

Since taking over Syria, HTS has continued this public embodiment of tolerance and stability. The group’s leadership regularly emphasizes that it is willing to accept diversity and that its primary goal is peaceful coexistence with all parties – even longtime rival Israel.

Al-Sharaa has also worked hard to project a liberal image. He was recently photographed playing basketball with US military commanders – hardly the typical image most of us have of a former jihadist leader.

Some have expressed concern that HTS is merely pretending to be moderate and hiding its true intentions. Others have noted the conservative policies that were implemented when HTS was in control of Idlib.

Although the war in Syria has largely ended, it would be naive to think that sectarian violence has ended. Conflict has erupted between communities, including Druze and Sunni Bedouin groups.

There have also been a series of targeted killings against the Alawite community, the Assad family’s traditional base of support. It was in this context that al-Sharaa made his visit to Washington.

US-Syria relations

Since HTS took power, there has been a major international debate on how to engage with the new regime in Syria. Obviously, the Trump administration’s approach is to be pragmatic. This is not the first time that powerful figures in the US have considered working with al-Sharaa in some way.

As early as 2015, former CIA Director David Petraeus suggested that the US should consider working with members of HTS’s predecessor, Jabhat al-Nusra, in the fight. Islamic State (Is). And although HTS was officially listed as a terrorist organization by the US in 2018, this stance was softened in July 2025.

The question is what Trump and al-Sharaa want from each other. The legitimacy afforded by the Washington trip is incentive enough for al-Sharaa, but he stands to gain more. With Israel still occupying the Golan Heights and other parts of southern Syria, and regularly bombing inside Syria’s borders, al-Shar’a needs allies.

Trump has already rescinded most of the US sanctions imposed on Syria during the civil war – and suspended some more after the meeting in Washington. He will also likely play a role in unlocking World Bank funding for reconstruction in Syria.

Incentives for the US could include gaining an airbase in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which would help it counter Russia’s influence in the region. There are also rumors that Syria will join the Abraham Accords, the accord that normalizes diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states, which Trump is pushing to expand. However, this is not possible as long as Israel occupies the Golan Heights.

Stronger ties between the US and Syria would mean successfully alienating Iran’s strongest regional ally, while also helping the US fight the IS group. During his visit to Washington, al-Sharaa publicly joined the global coalition against IS. However, in reality, HTS has been fighting the group on the ground for years.

Many regional players have an interest in seeing Al-Sharaa’s project succeed. Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan want to end the conflict on their borders and see refugees return home, while Saudi Arabia is keen to steal Syria as an ally from Iran. Al-Sharaa is also in talks with Israel about a military and security agreement, and has already met with the Russian leader, Vladimir PutinIn Moscow.

Shia led Iraq Al-Shar’a is likely to be the most suspicious and the most hostile, although both it and Iran have no choice but to accept the new status quo. And this is to say nothing of the Kurds in north-eastern Syria. They bore the brunt of the war against IS and have already been repeatedly abandoned by Trump in the conflict against Turkish forces. They may not respond positively to al-Shara’a’s plans to reunify the country.

It remains to be seen whether al-Sharaa can consolidate power, end sporadic violence in Syria, and stabilize the country. An unstable Syria means an unstable Middle East, and an unstable Middle East is a problem far beyond the region’s borders.