Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was seen playing basketball with U.S. military officials Adm. Brad Cooper and Brig. General Kevin Lambert in a Saturday video shared by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani.
President Donald Trump is set to welcome al-Sharaa, who was once affiliated with al-Qaeda, to the White House on Monday, according to NPR. Al-Shaibani posted the video to Instagram, where the trio can be seen making baskets.
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“Work hard, play harder 
,” Al-Shaibani posted.
“Running a few plays on the court with Admiral Brad Cooper and Brigadier General Kevin Lambert,” he added.
Al-Sharaa was once an al-Qaeda leader who once fought against the U.S. in Iraq and served time in Abu Ghraib prison. Al-Sharaa was until recently branded a terrorist by the U.S. government, but was removed from the terror list days before his scheduled meeting at the White House with Trump, according to CBS News.
Al-Sharaa’s White House visit will mark the first time a Syrian head of state has been there since Syria became an independent country in 1946, according to NPR. Trump announced in May that sanctions on Syria would be lifted during a speech in Saudi Arabia.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness … The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as really an important function. Nevertheless, at the time, but now it’s their time, it’s their time to shine,” he said. “We are taking them all off. I think they are going to have, based on the people and spirit and everything else I’m hearing about, I say good luck, Syria, show us something very special.”
Al-Sharaa led a rebel alliance to oust former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 while heading Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamic fundamentalist militant organization. Al-Sharaa has carefully cultivated a reputation of being a more pro-Western leader than Assad, with legacy media outlets calling the new government “moderate” compared to the previous regime.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the visit during a Tuesday briefing.
“This is part of the president’s efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace,” Leavitt said.
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