Trump Lifts Syria Sanctions, Assad Targeted
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday to terminate U.S. sanctions on Syria, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, marking a major shift in Washington’s approach following more than a decade of civil war in the country.
The decision fulfills a pledge Trump made in May to unwind broad economic measures imposed during the Assad regime, aiming to support Syria’s “path to stability and peace,” Leavitt said during a press briefing.
“The order will remove sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanctions on the former President Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS and their affiliates, and Iranian proxies,” she said.
“This is again an action that the president promised and shocked the world with in Saudi Arabia, because he’s committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” Leavitt added.
Trump first announced the policy shift at an investment forum in Riyadh last month, where he criticized the “brutal and crippling” sanctions. The next day, he met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa — the first meeting between U.S. and Syrian leaders in 25 years.
Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces during Syria’s conflict, assumed the presidency in late January following the ouster of Bashar Assad. Assad fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, bringing an end to the Baath Party’s decades-long rule, which began in 1963.