US President Donald Trump speaking during a press conference in the White House in Washington, DC, on February 20, 2026. Photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP
WASHINGTON D.C. - US President Donald Trump said Friday Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whom he said he “essentially put there,” has been “very good to the Kurds,” as Damascus and Kurdish leadership in northeast Syria (Rojava) continue working on an internationally brokered agreement reached in late January that ended weeks of clashes.
“The president of Syria, who I essentially put there, is doing a phenomenal job. He is a rough guy; he is not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it. But Syria is coming together, really coming together well, and thus far he has been very good to the Kurds,” Trump told Rudaw during a press conference.
Sharaa, under his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, led the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024. HTS was a former al-Qaeda affiliate.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump “personally” engaged with Syria’s interim president to halt fighting between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in order to facilitate the transfer of Islamic State (ISIS) detainees and allow negotiations on integration to continue.
“When the fighting broke out, President Trump engaged personally, not once but twice, with al-Sharaa,” Rubio said. “He [Trump] said, ‘Stop the fighting so that we can move the [Islamic State] ISIS prisoners that are there… so that we have more time to work on this reintegration.’”
An internationally brokered ceasefire reached in late January halted hostilities between the Kurdish-led SDF and Damascus-affiliated armed groups, outlining the gradual integration of
Rojava’s civil and military institutions into Syrian state structures.
Iran talks, protests
“They better negotiate a fair deal,” Trump also told Rudaw regarding the situation with Iran.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated this week following a second round of indirect talks mediated by Oman. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is considering conducting limited strikes on military or government sites and widening military operations if talks fail. Trump has repeatedly said he prefers a diplomatic settlement.
“It is a very, very, very, very sad situation, but 32,000 people were killed over a relatively short period of time. They were going to hang 800… two weeks ago… hang some by crane,” Trump told Rudaw during Friday’s press conference.
“They were gonna hang 837 people, and I gave them the word: if you hang one person, even one person, then you are going to be hit right then and there. I wasn’t waiting two weeks and negotiating, and they gave up the hanging,” he added. “Supposedly, they didn’t hang anybody.”
US President Donald Trump on Thursday set a 10- to 15-day deadline for Iran, saying it was “enough time” to reach a deal. On Friday, he confirmed reports that he was considering limited strikes.
Iran is seeking the lifting of sanctions that have severely strained its economy and fueled mass protests. At least 7,000 people have been killed in unrest and subsequent crackdowns by Iranian security forces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), though casualty estimates vary.
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