President Trump bucked critics in his administration and security hawks in Israel in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria and embrace its new leader, a U.S.-designated terrorist who formerly

President Trump, speaking in Saudi Arabia, said he will order the end of sanctions against Syria to normalize relations with its new government.

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.

President Trump's announcement that US sanctions on Syria would be lifted was met with elation by Syrians. Syria has a long way to go to recover from years of civil war and brutal dictatorship. But experts say the country needs to see sanctions lifted just to have a chance at beginning the long process of rebuilding.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he plans to lift sanctions on Syria following last year’s fall of the Assad regime, saying the move will “give them a chance at greatness.”

A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria's oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's strategic pitch to try to get face time with U.S. President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East,

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Trump intends to issue waivers under the "Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act", through which Washington imposed stiff sanctions on former President Bashar al-Assad's government and secondary sanctions on outside companies or governments that worked with it.

The former US President met with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ended the decades-long dictatorship of the Assad family