Trump praises Syrian president, signals terror-list removal

ANKARA

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is likely to remove Syria from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, praising Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara.

Asked whether he would remove Syria from the list, Trump said, “I think I will, yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”

“He’s done a great job,” Trump said of al-Sharaa.

Trump said Syria had become “very stable” and credited the Syrian leader with bringing the country together after years of conflict.

“He’s done a really fantastic job as president. He’s unified the country in a very short period of time,” Trump said, describing al-Sharaa as a strong leader respected by others.

Syria has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1979.

Trump said Washington’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria had helped the country’s recovery.

“We released sanctions from the country, which really, I think, was a big boost,” he said.

Al-Sharaa said Syria had made major progress in unifying the country over the past year and a half and setting it on what he called the right path.

“This is thanks to the strong Syrian people and to the historic decision made by Trump to lift the sanctions on Syria,” al-Sharaa said.

He also cited support from regional countries.

“It is also thanks to the help of all our friends in the region, from Türkiye and the Gulf to other countries in the region,” he said.

Asked whether Syria could help in efforts against Hezbollah, Trump said, “They could help. We’ll find out. I think we’re making a lot of progress.”

Trump also said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, saying he believed Israel wanted to move in that direction.

The meeting took place as Türkiye hosted the two-day NATO summit in Ankara, the second alliance summit held in the country after the 2004 Istanbul gathering.