President Donald Trump said that he would work to remove Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on Wednesday during his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the NATO summit in Turkey.
The State Department followed up on Trump’s comments at the NATO summit by posting a Wednesday press releaseformalizing Trump’s decision. Al-Sharaa’s movement, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), split from al-Qaeda in 2017, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies; however, the State Department revoked the group’s Foreign Terrorist Organization designation in 2025.
A senior Trump administration official confirmed the development with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The State Department could not provide a response before the publication deadline.
A reporter asked the president if he would remove Syria as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
“I think I will, yeah. I think I will, why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job,” Trump said in a video on C-SPAN. “Uh, maybe he would have wrote that up in a little, but that’s a good question. Yeah, I will.”
“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,” the State Department’s press release states. “A stable, unified Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors benefits not only the region, but the entire world.”
Trump invited the former terrorist al-Sharaa to the White House shortly after the U.S. normalized relations with Syria on Nov. 10, 2025, PBS reported.
“President Trump thanked President Erdogan and the Crown Prince for their friendship, and told President Al-Sharaa that he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country. President Trump encouraged President Al-Sharaa to do a great job for the Syrian people,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an X post on May 14, 2025.
Al-Sharaa, once a member of al-Qaeda, fought as an insurgent against U.S. forces in Iraq and later led one of Syria’s largest Islamist armed groups before being welcomed by Trump in Washington, The Conversation reported on Nov. 12, 2025.
“The United States supports a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with its neighbors, as well as a Syria that denies safe haven to terrorist organizations and ensures the security of all minority groups,” a State Department spokesperson previously told the DCNF. “The Department is reviewing our remaining terrorist designations related to HTS and Syria, in accordance with the President’s promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria.”
The Iran War has caused Iraq and other Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates, to ship oil overland through Syria to reach Mediterranean ports, giving fees to the current Syrian regime, The New York Times reported on May 18.
It has been well documented that Nusrah Front, the brainchild behind Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s creation, was responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks in Syria over the years.
“Opposition armed groups began using car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), sometimes in suicide attacks, in areas under government control in 2012,” Human Rights Watch reported in 2015. “Initial attacks targeted state security forces and outposts, but the groups soon began to carry out bombings in populated areas without evident military targets.”
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