The meeting came after Trump—who is in the middle of a three-country tour of the Middle East—delivered a speech on Tuesday in which he announced his plan to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria in support of "a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace.”

Complicating the task are sanctions imposed under the "Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act," also known as the "Caesar Act,” which was passed in 2019 and extended late last yea

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, a major U.S. policy shift ahead of an expected meeting with Syria's Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa.