10 Takeaways: Trump’s Opening to Syria

The profound implications of US engagement & sanctions removal

1. It’s Trump Rules (aligning with DOD)

For 5 months, the entirety of President Trump’s national security apparatus — from the National Security Council, to the State Department and intelligence community — has voiced varying degrees of hostility, skepticism and/or indifference to Syria’s post-Assad transitional government. The one ounce of potential opening came in the form of a list of “conditions” — first seven, then eight, then ten — placed upon Damascus before it was to be rewarded with public engagement and sanctions relief. Even if those conditions had been met, the open antipathy embraced by senior figures within Trump’s administration towards Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and his transitional government still made the prospect of truly meaningful re-engagement a doubtful prospect. And within that dynamic lay Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s open hostility to Syria’s new authorities; a stance that has been far more in line with Trump’s administration until now than anything else.

Then, in the space of 24hrs in Saudi Arabia, Trump’s rules came into play. Everything was turned on its head. Syria was promised full sanctions lifting and President Sharaa got a formal meeting with Trump himself. On May 15, Secretary of State and acting National Security Advisor Rubio will meet Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani in a trilateral meeting coordinated by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. This is an about-turn from which there is almost no coming back from.

Syria Weekly understands that President Trump’s announcement on removing sanctions came as a surprise to the Departments of State and Treasury — neither of which had received any heads up on such an announcement. Several senior figures within the NSC, including Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, were left reeling. In a TV interview just 3 days earlier, Gorka himself slated Syria’s President Sharaa as a “Salafi-jihadist” and “terrorist,” while praising Israeli military actions in Syria, as well as the “accomplishments” of Syria’s Kurds and Druze communities.