Trump’s team left reeling after Syria sanctions bombshell

Keeping them on their toes

White House officials admitted their surprise over President Donald Trump's sudden announcement of lifting sanctions on Syria. This declaration occurred during his critical tour of the Middle East, which was aimed at securing multi-billion dollar agreements.

Wrestling with the reality

“Everyone is trying to figure out how to implement it,” said one U.S. official referring to Trump's order to lift the decades long layers of sanctions, according to Reuters.

Impromptu meeting with al-Sharaa

In another classic Trump move, the US president also surprised his camp by briefly meeting Syria’s new interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa who is on the US terrorist list due to his past as a leader of a faction of al Qaeda despite distancing himself from it in 2016.

Photo: screenshot from Crux YouTube video

Trump's praise for former jihadist

Apparently impressed by his strongman qualities, Sharaa was, Trump said, a “great young attractive guy,” with a “very strong past” who is “a fighter” and had “got a real shot at pulling it together,” CNN reports.

A quick hello

The meeting took place in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and was just long enough for the two men to say hello and exchange a couple of pleasantries.

50-year sanctions lifted

The previous day, May 13, Trump said he would be lifting the “brutal and crippling” sanctions on the war-torn country which has been battered by more than 13 years of conflict, reports the Middle East Monitor.

"A chance at greatness"

The US President said that he hoped that by lifting sanctions, he would give Syria “a chance at greatness,” according to Al Jazeera.

"Time to shine"

Speaking to an investment forum in Riyadh, Trump said, “It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off,” Trump said of the US sanctions on Syria. “So, I say, ‘Good luck Syria. Show us something very special, like they’ve done, frankly, in Saudi Arabia.’”

A step up

Without warning, Ahmad al-Sharaa has gone from having a $10 million bounty on his head ordered by the US authorities for his arrest as a jihadist to shaking hands with the US President.

All in the past

But al-Sharaa has made an effort to put his jihadist past behind him since his rebel movement Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled the al-Assad regime at the end of last year after 25 years of repressive rule.

Years of US estrangement

The US cut diplomatic ties with Syria in 2012 just as the Syrian civil war kicked off and has had sanctions on the country for the past 50 years.

The start of a new era in the Middle East?

Now, Trump’s tentative rapprochement marks a massive shift in US policy with many still harboring reservations over the direction the Islamist al-Sharaa might take the country in.

Turkey and Saudi's role

But, after signing deals worth what he claims to be $600 billion, Trumps was in the mood to be persuaded by the Saudi Crown Prince  Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to bring Syria in from the cold.

A standing ovation

The news that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria was met by his business audience in Riyadh with a standing ovation, reports the New York Times.

Fireworks in Damascus

Meanwhile, in Damascus, crowds gathered to celebrate the lifting of sanctions and a move towards ending the country’s international isolation, with fireworks lighting up the sky.

A glimmer of hope for a beleaguered land

Mouaz Moustafa from the US-based Syria Emergency Task Force told the BBC, "For the first time in decades, Syria has hope” and the chance to become a "prosperous, stable and safe democracy.”

Undermining Iranian influence

The ousting of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December was a blow to Iranian influence in the Middle East and paved the way for Saudi to hold more sway in the Arab world, according to the BBC.

Huge investment on the cards

Now, the normalization of relations with Syria by the US will open the country up to huge investment from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, both of which hope to profit from the new arrangement.