Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for a historic visit, marking a new era in US-Syria relations. His arrival follows Washington’s decision to remove him from its terrorism blacklist, a move seen as a major diplomatic shift.
Sharaa, whose rebel forces ended Bashar al-Assad’s decades-long rule last year, will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. This is the first official visit by a Syrian president to the US since Syria’s independence in 1946.
US officials praised Sharaa’s government for helping locate missing Americans and dismantling remaining chemical weapons. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said these efforts show “progress toward stability and reform” after years of repression under Assad.
Washington plans to build a military base near Damascus to coordinate aid and monitor regional developments. Analysts see Sharaa’s visit as a symbolic moment in Syria’s transformation from war to reconstruction.
Once linked to Al-Qaeda, Sharaa has rebranded himself as a moderate leader seeking peace and global engagement. He is expected to request financial aid to rebuild Syria, where the World Bank estimates recovery costs at $216 billion.
