On Syria, Trump Defied Israel. A Bigger Middle East Shift Is Still Elusive.

US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, and with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025.This article is part of HuffPost US’ biweekly politics newsletter. Click here to subscribe.When US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the encounter went beyond the “hello” the White House had told reporters to expect.Trump and Sharaa spoke behind closed doors for more than 30 minutes in a discussion that included Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was hosting Trump at the time, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Afterward, the crown prince, Trump and Sharaa posed for pictures that gave the meeting a sense of history and legitimacy, smiling broadly together. It was a striking image, given that no American president had met a Syrian leader in 25 years, and even more so because Sharaa, a former Al Qaeda militant, is still designated as a terrorist by the US government.The meeting represented the most dramatic moment so far in Trump’s ongoing visit to the Middle East, which took him to Qatar later on Wednesday and will conclude in the United Arab Emirates.The encounter was the icing on the cake for supporters of deeper US engagement with Syria under Sharaa’s rule who argue that US policy is key to rebuilding the country as it emerges from a 14-year civil war.The reevaluation of the relationship between the two countries began in December after brutal former dictator Bashar Assad was overthrown and Sharaa became the nation’s new leader. Leading American allies in the Middle East have been pushing Washington to lift US sanctions covering Syria that have made it hard for them to send aid and court business there. The group includes Qatar — which is also working to give the president a $400 million jet, a proposed gift that has become a major scandal in the United States.On Tuesday, Trump announced he would cease sanctions to give Syria “a chance at greatness,” a win for the lobbying campaign. “There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilising the country and keeping peace,” he said.But the US’s closest traditional partner in the region — Israel — had opposed the idea. And some hard-line national security figures in the Trump administration have sought to slow US engagement with Sharaa. Many foreign policy watchers are now wondering if Trump’s Syria shift shows Israel (and some of its hawkish allies in Washington) meaningfully losing influence, particularly as the president embraces Arab leaders with whom he has ties on both public policy and private business. Trump himself suggests he represents a positive break with the past — using his speech in Riyadh to decry “interventionists” — and several regional and US officials have told HuffPost they see the administration as more balanced than past counterparts.Still, the details of the Syria maneuver — and what sources expect next — offer a more complex picture of the current push-pull between policy circles, including within the Trump administration.Presidential Attention – And Its FicklenessTo Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian-American activist involved in policy discussions, this week’s shift had a clear impetus. “President Trump had never been able to look at Syria… [and] what’s best for US interests,” as other concerns have dominated his presidency so far, Moustafa told HuffPost.In Saudi Arabia, Trump had the time to do so, he argued, adding: “I’ve been advocating for a meeting between Sharaa and Trump… I knew if they met for 10 minutes, they were going to love each other as strong leaders, and that’s exactly what’s happened.” Trump praised Sharaa as “a young, attractive guy… with a strong past” following the encounter. The move reflects the president’s willingness to take big swings, even if that conflicts with Israel, a US official working on Middle East policy argued to HuffPost.“Israel’s goal in Syria is to keep it a failed state that they can bomb forever… sanctions assured that would happen,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorised to speak to the press. “The entire region, Europe and the world will be better off with a stable rebuilding of Syria… Nobody has ever been as bold as to say all [sanctions] are coming off like Trump just did.” In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, pose in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. In significant ways, the Trump administration continues to be closely aligned with Israel. Echoing the Biden era, Washington has yet to challenge Israeli troops’ deepening presence in other countries in the region — including in Syria — or to meaningfully push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit his devastating ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, which is enabled by US weapons. Trump also continued to recognise Israeli control of part of Syria, in violation of international law.However, Washington appears unconvinced by Israeli officials’ arguments that entrenching Sharaa’s rule risks militancy in a neighbouring state and the persecution of the Druze, a minority group that also has a large presence in Israel.Those implementing the shift in US policy toward Syria still include Trump aides leery of significant outreach to Sharaa, like Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, Sebastian Gorka, the counter-terror director at the White House National Security Council, and Joel Rayburn, Trump’s nominee for the chief Middle East job at the State Department. Some inside the administration were reportedly surprised by Trump’s move yesterday.Gorka, known for fear-mongering about Islam, last month told Breitbart “the jury is still out” on the Syrian leader, noting that Sharaa had spoken of implementing Islamic law in Syria. He contrasted him with Assad by calling the former dictator “secular,” a depiction that is contested but was often used by advocates for US engagement with Assad, including Gabbard.Moustafa expressed confidence that Trump’s preference would overrule internal scepticism. “The president rewards loyalty, and anyone who’s hindering his agenda usually gets moved out of the way,” he said.“Look at [Mike] Waltz, for example,” he continued.Trump transferred Waltz, his hawkish former national security adviser, to a different position last month.Moustafa, whose Syria Emergency Task Force advised Congress on American sanctions on Syria over the Assad regime’s human rights abuses, said the US should now “help Syria become the democracy it deserves to be” by moving quickly to end sanctions and allow Syria’s central bank to function. I don’t know if it is a signpost for restraint ascendancy in the administration or if it’s because the Saudis say, ‘We’re going to buy billions in weapons.’Gil Barndollar, nonresident fellow at Defense PrioritiesThe executive branch has significant leeway in applying — or waiving — sanctions, but Capitol Hill plays a significant role, too.Lawmakers have “eyes wide open on Sharaa” and want to “strike the right balance between opportunity and risk,” a Republican congressional aide told HuffPost, requesting anonymity to describe internal deliberations.Top Republican and Democratic senators endorsed some sanctions relief on Syria last month, and even hawkishcommentators have praised Trump’s step. But the aide noted that skepticism over Sharaa persists — as does a willingness to push the US to reapply pressure on Damascus through sanctions. “If, at the end of the day, they fail to move on our national security interests or fall victim to their own worst impulses, we can slam the door again,” the aide told HuffPost. Critics of Sharaa worry about possible authoritarianism and targeting of those who do not ascribe to his conservative ideology.Notably, the Republican aide framed sceptics on Trump’s team as continuing to wield influence over the decision-making on Damascus. “There are always competing views. It’s very clear where the administration landed,” the aide said. “I do not think that means these other voices were lost — I think they informed that decision.”‘Typical Trump Transactionalism’Israel’s ongoing uneasiness toward Sharaa will likely continue to affect US policy, but observers doubt it will be a major hurdle to engagement with Syria.“The Israelis view the government in Damascus with an exceptionally heavy dose of skepticism,” the Republican aide said. But that’s not necessarily the biggest priority in Trump’s Washington. In a reflection of the broader “America First” mood, the aide highlighted Russian military facilities in Syria. “While I get it that is a security crisis for Israel, the United States has some larger issues if we’re talking about the port of Tartus, the airfield in Latakia ... the United States also has national security interests,” the aide said.Moustafa framed rebuilding Syria as helpful for regional security broadly and hence a benefit for Israel, too. He argued that Netanyahu would only seek to complicate it for personal reasons and said that hawks in Washington who still back sanctions seem focused on helping Netanyahu retain power through “perpetual war.” While backers of a more modest US approach in the Middle East may be pleased with the developments on Syria, there’s little guarantee the thinking on that issue will extend to broader policy — particularly given evidence that even if Trump’s move displeased Israel, it pleased other regional players who want the US deeply involved in the region. Trump, described as a “president of peace” by Vice President JD Vance, has used his ongoing Middle East trip to advance major weapons sales to Arab countries and Turkey, which have deployed them in regional wars for years.“I don’t know if it is a signpost for restraint ascendancy in the administration or if it’s because the Saudis say, ’We’re going to buy billions in weapons,” said Gil Barndollar, a nonresident fellow at the group Defense Priorities, which advocates for a less hawkish US foreign policy and has seen some personnel appointed to Trump administration jobs. “I’m happy to see us take a victory lap on that, sure, but the actual reasoning behind it may be more typical Trumpian transactionalism.”To track whether figures in the administration who identify as pro-restraint are wielding real power, “the bigger problems are China and Russia, which are much more meaningful than anything going on in the Middle East,” said Barndollar, who is also a researcher at the Catholic University of America. Noting the Trump administration is particularly driven by the president’s personal preferences, he noted even officials who are self-described opponents of hawkishness seem primarily concerned with their further political elevation and appear willing to evolve their positions based on their boss’ views.Still, the issue to track in the region to measure the influence of hawks versus relative doves in Trump’s circle is the ongoing diplomacy over a possible nuclear deal with Iran, and whether Washington is willing to “not just anger Netanyahu but… face pushback from certain Israeli front groups over here.”“The current Israeli government is clearly very eager to launch a military campaign against Iran,” continued Barndollar, who recently returned from a visit to Israel. He drew a link between that possibility and the influence of the wealthy Persian Gulf kingdoms that, in recent years, have become more enthusiastic about diplomacy with Tehran. “Those people have Trump’s ear; they’re openly bribing him,” Barndollar said. “Are they more important to him than the Israeli government and its lobbyists?” he continued. “You could at least make a case.”Related...Trump Has 1 Juicy Update To His Bonkers Rant About His ‘Overweight’ Pal Who Took 'The Fat Shot’Mark Carney Criticises Keir Starmer's Decision To Give Donald Trump A Second State VisitRobert De Niro Kicks Off Cannes Film Festival With Blistering Speech About 'Philistine' Trump

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