Trump’s Syria Gambit Shocks NATO

President Trump sat down with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Ankara, Turkey — and announced the United States will remove Syria from its terrorism sanctions list, a move that would have been unthinkable just two years ago.

Story Highlights

Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey — one of the most significant U.S.-Syria diplomatic moments in decades.
Trump announced the U.S. will lift sanctions on Syria and move to remove the country from the terrorism sanctions list.
Syria has been on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list since 1979, though the Assad regime that earned that label was toppled in late 2024.
Bipartisan lawmakers had already urged the State Department to remove Syria from the terrorism list, arguing the legal basis no longer applies under the new government.

Trump and al-Sharaa Meet in Ankara

President Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The two leaders spoke to reporters before their formal sit-down. Trump described Syria as “very stable” and said the U.S. would lift sanctions on the country. It marked one of only a handful of direct leader-to-leader meetings between the U.S. and Syria in the past quarter century.

This was not the first time Trump and al-Sharaa have met. Trump first met al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May 2025, then hosted him at the White House in November 2025. The NATO summit meeting is the third such encounter — a rapid acceleration in ties that would have seemed impossible under the old Assad government, which Washington had largely frozen out for years.

What the Sanctions Lift Actually Means

Syria has been on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list since 1979. That designation blocked U.S. investment, foreign aid, and normal trade. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control already archived Syria’s sanctions program, effective July 1, 2025, following an executive order Trump signed that directed the Secretary of State to review the designation. Trump’s announcement at the NATO summit signals the formal removal process is moving forward.

Bipartisan pressure has been building for this move. Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren, along with Representative Joe Wilson, urged the State Department to act, arguing the legal grounds for the terrorism designation no longer apply now that the Assad regime is gone. Analysts at Lawfare wrote that “the factual predicate for Syria’s designation has fundamentally shifted” and that the new Syrian government “is not the Assad regime by another name.”

The Complicated History Behind the Decision

The old Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad had a long record of supporting terrorist groups. The Council on Foreign Relations documented that Syria allowed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to keep headquarters in Damascus, and that Iranian arms bound for Hezbollah regularly passed through Syrian territory. That history is real — but it belongs to a regime that no longer exists. Al-Sharaa led the rebel forces that toppled Assad in late 2024.

US President Donald Trump on the EU during a meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at Ankara NATO Summit:

We're very close to those countries (EU countries). The problem is they took advantage of the United States for years. It's like him (al-Sharaa). They took advantage… pic.twitter.com/OXnzHAZoby

— Levant24 (@Levant_24_) July 8, 2026

Critics point out that no independent audit has confirmed the new Syrian government has fully cut ties with those networks. That is a fair concern. But the counter-evidence relies heavily on records from before 2024, not on documented actions by the current government. Trump stated that Syria has provided assurances it will not support terrorism going forward. Whether those assurances hold up over time is the real question — and one that only the months and years ahead will answer.

Why This Matters Beyond the Headlines

For everyday Americans, the bigger picture is this: Syria has been a war-torn, sanctions-hit country for over a decade. A stable Syria means fewer refugees, less room for groups like the Islamic State to operate, and a potential check on Iranian influence in the region. Trump is betting that engagement now — rather than continued isolation — produces better results. That is a reasonable strategic argument, even if the risks are real.

What both the left and right should watch closely is whether this diplomatic push translates into lasting policy or fades like so many Washington announcements before it. Big promises made at summits have a habit of stalling in the bureaucratic machinery back home. The formal removal of Syria from the terrorism list still requires official State Department action. Until that paperwork is complete, the announcement is a signal — an important one, but not yet a done deal.