Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday ahead of his historic meeting with President Trump, his country's official news agency reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.
Al-Sharaa, whose rebel forces toppled longtime leader Bashar al-Assad late last year, is scheduled to meet Mr. Trump at the White House on Monday.
It is the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country's independence in 1946, analysts say. Al-Sharaa addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
The interim leader first met Mr. Trump in Riyadh during Mr. Trump's tour of the Middle East in May.
The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that al-Sharaa would "hopefully" sign a deal to join the US-led international alliance against Islamic State.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York on September 24, 2025. KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
Friday's decision by the State Department to remove al-Sharaa from the global terrorist list was widely expected.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement that the al-Sharaa government had responded to U.S. requests, including working to find missing Americans and eliminating all remaining chemical weapons.
"These actions are taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by Syrian leaders following the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime," Pigott said.
The spokesperson added that delisting the United States would promote "regional security and stability and an inclusive, Syrian-led and owned political process."
Al-Sharaa joined al-Qaeda about 20 years ago and was arrested in Iraq in 2005. He spent six years in U.S. and Iraqi prisons before being released in 2011. He later led an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria and was designated as a terrorist by the United States in 2013. In 2016, he renounced his allegiance to al-Qaeda.
In November 2024, al-Sharaa led opposition forces in a resounding offensive that toppled the Assad regime.
In an interview with "60 Minutes" last month in Syria, al-Sharaa said "entire generations" of Syrians "suffered enormous psychological trauma" under Assad's rule.
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