US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will officially remove Syria from its list of designated state sponsors of terrorism, concluding a near half-century era of severe economic blacklisting.
The historic policy shift, delivered on the sidelines of the highly charged NATO summit in Ankara, marks the most explicit American endorsement to date of Syria’s transitional government under Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander who engineered the dramatic toppling of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024.
Sitting directly beside the Syrian leader at the Bestepe Presidential Compound, Trump confirmed the administration’s intention to dismantle the final legal roadblock preventing Western capital from flooding into the war-torn nation. The extraordinary rehabilitation of Syria, originally blacklisted by Washington in 1979, signals an aggressive White House effort to reshape Middle Eastern dynamics through economic integration and transactional diplomacy, prioritising stabilisation over historical grievances.
“I think I will, yeah,” Trump said when asked directly by reporters if he would rescind the decades-old terrorism designation. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job. Syria was a mess with what happened with the previous government. It’s really been stabilised, and we’re proud of that.”
From Insurgent to Statesman: The Political Ascent of Ahmad al-Sharaa
The diplomatic breakthrough in Turkey cements a stunning personal transformation for President al-Sharaa. Once a prominent insurgent commander who led a faction formerly tied to al-Qaeda before a definitive break in 2016, al-Sharaa has successfully traded his combat fatigues for tailored civilian suits, cultivating an image as a pragmatic, technocratic unifier. Trump was effusive in his praise for the Syrian interim leader, forcefully brushing aside concerns regarding the new government’s deep militant roots.
“He’s respected by everybody, including me,” Trump told reporters during the bilateral availability. “He’s doing an unbelievable job in unifying Syria. What a job he’s doing.”
Shortly after the meeting, a senior U.S. administration official confirmed that a personal letter from the American president was hand-delivered to al-Sharaa, promising a rapid influx of private sector support.
“I promised to remove all barriers stopping you from rebuilding your country, and very soon, you will finally be able to do so,” Trump wrote in the correspondence. “We have U.S. companies ready to invest in Syria and help make your country greater and more prosperous than ever before.”
Rubio Notifies Congress, Igniting a 45-Day Review Clock
In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio formally transmitted the administration’s intent to Congress, initiating a mandatory 45-day statutory review window. Given the current bipartisan momentum in Washington toward a swift Syrian stabilisation to mitigate regional refugee crises, congressional analysts consider an adversarial legislative override to block the delisting to be highly unlikely.
The notification follows a series of calculated legislative and executive rollbacks orchestrated by the White House over the past year. Last summer, Trump signed a sweeping executive order terminating the bulk of the U.S. sanctions framework against Damascus, which was followed by a congressional repeal of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, the landmark 2019 law that had completely frozen Syria’s financial connectivity. According to Rubio, the delisting is the logical culmination of “positive changes and counterterrorism actions” enacted by the new Damascus leadership.
“Lifting sanctions on Syria will unlock international trade and investment, give Syria a chance to rebuild, and open up a new chapter for the Syrian people,” Secretary Rubio said in an official statement. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbours benefits not only the region, but the entire world.”
The State Department confirmed that the decision was finalised only after receiving binding, “formal assurances” from al-Sharaa that the reconstituted Syrian state would completely abstain from supporting international terrorism or sheltering rogue non-state actors.
The Reintegration Gamble and Regional Aftershocks
The economic ramifications of Washington’s pivot were felt instantly across regional markets. In a statement published on Telegram, Syrian Central Bank Governor Safwat Raslan hailed the move, noting it “opens wider aspects of investments and economic recovery” and sets the stage for Syria’s full reintegration into the global financial architecture. Already, major corporate entities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are moving forward with multi-billion-dollar infrastructure and energy investment packages, eager to anchor their influence in the post-war state.
The sudden move has also drawn strong domestic defence backing from a rare coalition of lawmakers. In a bipartisan push preceding the announcement, Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren, alongside Representative Joe Wilson, urged the administration to strip the designation, calling it “the most significant remaining legal impediment to Syria’s reconstruction.”
Yet, beneath the triumphalist rhetoric in Ankara, regional security experts warn that Washington’s rapid normalisation carries profound geopolitical risks. The embrace of al-Sharaa has caused deep, quiet consternation in Jerusalem. Israel has continued to launch periodic, pre-emptive airstrikes inside Syrian territory to disrupt lingering militant networks, remaining fiercely sceptical of Damascus’s ability to truly sever ties with subterranean radical factions.
When pressed on whether the new Syrian government would actively assist the West in countering regional threats like Hezbollah, Trump left the door open to future intelligence and military synergy. “They could help. We’ll find out,” the U.S. president remarked. “I think we’re making a lot of progress.”
For al-Sharaa, the Ankara summit represents a definitive geopolitical victory, concluding an isolation that devastated his country for half a century. “In the past year and a half, we have achieved a great accomplishment,” al-Sharaa said, speaking through a translator. “This is thanks to the strong Syrian people and to the historic decision made by President Trump.”
