Trump's Middle East tour begins with Syria looming as strategic opportunity

President Donald Trump arrived successful Saudi Arabia connected Tuesday for his archetypal large overseas travel since retaking office, hoping to unafraid large deals connected commercialized and diplomatic breakthroughs crossed the Middle East. 

The president mightiness person an unexpected and consenting spouse successful Syria’s caller president who could connection him a immense diplomatic win.

"This is simply a historical opportunity, and it would beryllium a shame if the U.S. mislaid it," Natasha Hall, elder chap with the Middle East Program astatine the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told Fox News Digital.

President Trump seems unfastened to renewed relations with Syria, including the anticipation of lifting crippling sanctions imposed nether the erstwhile authorities of Bashar al-Assad.

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President Donald Trump, left, walks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a welcoming ceremonial successful Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, connected May 13, 2025. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS)

"We whitethorn instrumentality them disconnected of Syria, due to the fact that we privation to springiness them a caller start," President Trump told reporters successful the Oval Office connected Monday.

The president added that "we privation to spot if we tin assistance them out" and that a determination connected Syria sanctions volition beryllium made astatine immoderate point.

"Syria now, for the archetypal time, has a authorities successful powerfulness that is not lone nary longer reliant connected Iran to past but is rather hostile to Iran, and truthful that would beryllium a large accidental mislaid if the U.S. didn’t measurement up," Hall added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, pictured here, clasp a property league aft their gathering astatine the Presidential Complex successful Ankara, Turkiye, connected Feb. 4, 2025. (Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Mouaz Moustafa, enforcement manager of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a non-profit helping to bring ideology to Syria, precocious met with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa successful Damascus. 

Moustafa exclusively told Fox News Digital that the 2 spoke for implicit 3 hours astir a imaginable breakthrough successful U.S.-Syrian relations, which person been severed since 2011 pursuing the outbreak of the Syrian civilian war, which led to the deaths of implicit 500,000 people.

Moustafa and others are pushing for a gathering betwixt al-Sharaa and President Trump during his sojourn to the Gulf this week. For Syria’s caller government, this volition beryllium their accidental to transportation the caller medication to bash concern with a state coming retired of a devastating 14-year civilian warfare and mend ties with a person who was erstwhile aligned with the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

"Syria’s objectives are rather wide connected wherefore they would privation to conscionable President Trump successful Saudi Arabia, to marque headway connected immoderate of these halfway issues of practice and to alleviate immoderate of the concerns the White House whitethorn have. And immoderate of the things they’ve been trying to bash is to amusement that they tin beryllium cooperative connected quality issues, connected business, and talking astir companies seeking to bash concern successful Syria," CSIS’ Hall said.

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Yet others impulse caution. "Right now, Sharaa is not restricting governmental and civilian liberties, but he's an authoritarian by nature." erstwhile U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Fox News Digital.

Ford, who was the past U.S. ambassador successful Damascus, was pulled from the embassy successful October 2011 aft the Syrian uprising turned violent. Ford led the effort to enactment al-Sharaa connected the violent database successful 2012 and said, though helium is pragmatic, helium is starring an highly anemic government.

"He doesn’t power each of Syria yet. The authorities successful Damascus that helium leads is not precise strong, and it volition instrumentality clip to reassert each of its authorization implicit Syria," Ford said. 

Ford does not judge al-Sharaa volition prosecute coercion arsenic helium did successful the past, but portion determination person been immoderate promising developments since taking power, the U.S. indispensable support its expectations comparatively low.

"Syria is truthful weak, militarily and economically, with tons of interior governmental divisions. Therefore, it's not going to beryllium successful a presumption to motion immense arrangements with the U.S.," Ford cautioned.

A elder authoritative successful the Syrian Foreign Ministry told Fox News Digital that President al-Sharaa emphasizes "that the caller Free Syria seeks to found a beardown strategical narration with the United States, 1 grounded successful communal interests and shared partnership."

People question guns successful the aerial arsenic they stitchery to observe the autumn of the Syrian authorities successful Umayyad Square connected Dec. 8 successful Damascus, Syria. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

The elder authoritative added that "Damascus sees U.S. President Donald Trump arsenic the person astir susceptible of achieving bid successful the Middle East," noting that Syria hopes to go an progressive and influential state to Washington connected determination issues.

Moustafa besides met with members of the National Security Council and conveyed the Syrian president's tendency for a caller partnership. 

The National Security Council did not instantly respond to a Fox News Digital petition for comment.

The caller Syrian person has already shown a willingness to cooperate connected immoderate cardinal issues important to the U.S. The caller Syrian authorities has cooperated with U.S. quality agencies and foiled respective ISIS plots to onslaught Damascus. Syrian quality services besides arrested ISIS commander Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi successful February. 

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President Donald Trump speaks arsenic helium welcomes the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles NFL shot squad to the South Lawn of the White House connected Monday, April 28, 2025, successful Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Moustafa besides said that al-Sharaa was disquieted astir the monolithic buildup of Iranian-backed militias on the Iraqi broadside of the Syrian border. This is simply a interest for the U.S. arsenic good arsenic the Trump administration, helium said, arsenic it has been looking to reengage with Iran to curb its atomic program.

In al-Sharaa’s eyes, the woody of the period would bring bid to Syria and its neighbors, including Israel. Moustafa added the woody would support China, Russia and Iran retired and let U.S. troops to spell location successful the close way.

Yet critics pass a imaginable woody with the United States is not without its obstacles. 

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, past jihadist group's main Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, checks the harm pursuing an earthquake successful the colony of Besnaya successful Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib state astatine the borderline with Turkey, connected February 7, 2023. Since becoming the country's leader, Jolani is present known arsenic Ahmad al-Sharaa.  (OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Sharaa led the Islamist rebel radical Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to triumph implicit the Assad dictatorship successful December. He had a $10 cardinal bounty for his seizure that was lifted successful February amidst the administration’s efforts to speech to the caller Syrian government. 

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HTS is inactive a designated overseas violent organization, which complicates doing concern successful Syria.

"The question astatine manus is whether to judge that a alteration successful behavior, pursuing the autumn of the regime, translates into a much imperishable alteration successful character, ideology, and governance," Caroline Rose, manager of The New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital.

A protester holds a placard with a photograph of Ahmed al-Shara (Colani) and the words "It doesn't substance if helium wears a turban oregon a tie, a murderer is simply a murderer" during the demonstration. (Murat Kocabas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Rose, who precocious traveled to Syria, noted that portion HTS has been incrementally breaking distant from affiliations with violent organizations and has adopted immoderate mean elements implicit time, determination are inactive doubts that this volition "stick," peculiarly with caller sectarian tensions.

"Skeptics of lifting restrictions connected Syria instantly fearfulness that immoderate determination could beryllium excessively premature and could hazard the U.S.’ credibility among its determination counterparts," Rose added.

Since becoming president, al-Sharaa has formed a transitional authorities composed of adjacent allies from the HTS rebel group and a premix of technocrats, erstwhile absorption leaders, civilian nine activists and adjacent immoderate erstwhile members of the Assad government. 

The impermanent constitution signed by al-Sharaa successful March guarantees basal freedoms specified arsenic freedoms of opinion, look and the press. It besides protects women’s rights and promises adjacent rights for each Syrians careless of ethnicity, spiritual sect oregon gender, yet it inactive leaves the state under Islamist rule during the transitional process.

There stay immoderate concerns implicit the powerfulness concentrated successful the hands of the president. The president tin unilaterally state a authorities of exigency and suspend basal rights if nationalist information is threatened.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, greets the then-Syrian President Bashar Assad successful Tehran, Iran, connected Feb. 25, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP, File)

The immense powers granted to the enforcement successful the caller constitution is simply a reminder for galore Syrians of the authoritarian past galore suffered astatine the hands of the Assad regime for implicit 50 years.

Although determination is simply a caller consciousness of optimism wrong Syrian nine astir its future, civilian bid and information stay elusive.

Deadly sectarian clashes successful March launched by remnants of the erstwhile Assad authorities successful Syria’s coastal portion led to the deaths of 200 members of the information forces. Forces allied with the authorities and equipped civilians responded with brute force. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that these groups were liable for the deaths of astatine slightest 396 people. 

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Tensions person besides escalated with Syria’s Druze colonisation arsenic well, highlighting the delicate equilibrium of Syria’s analyzable taste divides and the caller authority’s quality to power assorted equipped factions. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.