President Donald Trump announced he will remove Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism during a Wednesday meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the NATO summit in Turkey.
The move legitimizes a regime led by a former al-Qaeda fighter who once battled U.S. forces in Iraq.
“I think I will, yeah. I think I will, why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job,” Trump told reporters when asked about lifting the terror designation.
“I think I will, yeah. I think I will, why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job.”
The State Department followed with a Wednesday press release formalizing the decision. Al-Sharaa’s movement, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), split from al-Qaeda in 2017, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The State Department revoked HTS’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation in 2025.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump is REMOVING Syria as being designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism
Q: Will you remove Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism?
TRUMP: “I think I will. Why wouldn’t I? He’s done a good job!”
This comes after the US also released sanctions off Syria,… pic.twitter.com/ERJr05X9Nw
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 8, 2026
“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” the State Department’s press release states.
Trump invited al-Sharaa to the White House in November 2025 shortly after the U.S. normalized relations with Syria.
Al-Sharaa once fought as an insurgent against U.S. forces in Iraq and later led one of Syria’s largest Islamist armed groups before being welcomed by Trump in Washington, The Conversation reported.
Today, President Trump, at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. President Erdogan of Turkey joined by phone. President Erdogan praised President Trump for lifting sanctions on Syria and committed to working alongside Saudi… pic.twitter.com/0yhyZbQ1o0
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) May 14, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump told al-Sharaa “he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country” and “encouraged President Al-Sharaa to do a great job for the Syrian people.”
The Iran War has caused Iraq and other Gulf states to ship oil overland through Syria to reach Mediterranean ports, generating transit fees for the Syrian regime, The New York Times reported in May.
“The United States supports a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with its neighbors, as well as a Syria that denies safe haven to terrorist organizations and ensures the security of all minority groups,” a State Department spokesperson previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Nusrah Front, the predecessor behind Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s creation, was responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks in Syria over the years, according to State Department records.
“Opposition armed groups began using car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), sometimes in suicide attacks, in areas under government control in 2012,” Human Rights Watch reported in 2015.
