US President Donald Trump lavished rare praise on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday, calling him "fantastic" and "highly respected", as the two leaders met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
The meeting itself is a win for Sharaa, who was first introduced to Trump a little over a year ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before finding himself in the Oval Office exchanging gifts with the US president by November. No Syrian leader - and certainly not one with Sharaa's past as a US-designated terrorist - had been in the White House in decades.
Wednesday's opportunity arose because the Turks have been at the helm of Sharaa's rise to power since December 2024, as they are keen on a neighboring Syria that falls within their sphere of influence.
Trump's swift embrace of Sharaa has been one of the standout foreign policy moves of the past year. "He's done a really fantastic job as president. He's unified the country in a very short period of time. I'd say like a year and a half, about a year and a half, and right from the beginning it was a real mess, very disjointed place, and he's brought it together," Trump told reporters as he sat next to Sharaa.
"He's a strong person. He's a great leader. He's respected by everybody, including me, and we're proud to have him," he added.
The sentiments are in stark contrast to how Trump has spoken about Washington's traditional allies, most of whom form the very defensive alliance that this summit is about. He has repeatedly berated the leaders of the UK, France, Germany, and Spain as being weak on defence and immigration, attacked Denmark for asserting its sovereignty over Greenland, and is currently in an open feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Since March, Trump has ramped up his rhetoric against those countries not joining his war on Iran.
Fourteen months ago, Sharaa, who previously had a $10m bounty on his head in the US, saw Trump announce the historic lifting of economic sanctions on Syria. The move was largely orchestrated by the Saudis, with much of the funding to rebuild Syria in a new image coming from Gulf nations.
What remains now is to get Syria off the US State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) list and allow for investment in the country, which is the key agenda item for Sharaa.
"Any problems with that?" Trump said, as he turned to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "I think we should. Yeah," the president added. "We're proud of the job he's doing. Syria has become very stable."
Trump was asked by a reporter about his highly contentious suggestion last month of having Syria take on the role of disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon. "They could help. We'll find out. I think we're making a lot of progress," he said.
Sharaa had previously indicated this was not a feasible option, but his foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, visited Lebanon last week and met with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah's closest political ally.
A senior Lebanese official who met Shaibani during the visit told Middle East Eye that the trip was coordinated with the Lebanese side to send a clear message about Syria's intentions.
"The visit was very much needed to reassure Lebanon and ease concerns about the possibility of a military intervention pushed by the United States," the official said.