Trump meets Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, heads to Qatar | World News
US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, following Washington’s surprise decision to lift all sanctions on the Islam-led government, Reuters reported, citing a Washington Post pool report. The meeting marked a dramatic shift in US policy towards Syria and came on the first day of Trump’s four-day Gulf tour, which began with a flurry of business deals.
The business deals included a $600 billion Saudi investment commitment in the US and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.
Trump’s decision to ease restrictions on Damascus drew opposition from US ally Israel and some adminration officials, who cited Sharaa’s former ties to al Qaeda. Sharaa, a former commander within the militant group, led rebel forces that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December. He publicly renounced al Qaeda in 2016.
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Qatar visit follows; Major investments and Boeing deal expected
Later today, Trump is scheduled to travel to Doha for a state visit and meet Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Qatar, a close US ally in the Gulf, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in new US investments during the visit.
According to a Reuters source familiar with the matter, Qatar Airways is expected to confirm a purchase of around 100 widebody jets from Boeing — a deal that would significantly deepen commercial ties between the two countries.
Trump’s visit also follows a White House announcement that Qatar will gift a Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which is expected to be retrofitted as a future Air Force One and later donated to Trump’s presidential library.
Trump is scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi on Thursday to meet with the leadership of the United Arab Emirates. He is slated to return to Washington on Friday, though he has said he may divert to Turkey if a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy materialises.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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