Sharaa meets Syrian community in Washington ahead of meeting with Trump

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday met with members of the Syrian community in Washington DC ahead of his scheduled meeting with the US President Donald Trump. 

The meeting was attended by Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani and US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack. Discussions focused on strengthening ties between Syrians abroad and their homeland, and on Syria’s reconnection with the international community.
 
“The President emphasized the importance of Syrians abroad maintaining their connection to their homeland Syria, and their role in conveying the true image of it and defending its just causes, praising their efforts and initiatives that express their deep belonging and pride in their homeland,” read a statement from Sharaa’s office. 
 
For his part, Barrack commended the Syrian diaspora for helping foster relations between Syria and the international community and reaffirmed Washington’s “keenness to support initiatives that facilitate Syria’s return to regional and international surroundings,” Syrian state media cited the US special envoy as saying. 

The Trump-Sharaa meeting is scheduled to take place at 7 pm Erbil time, according to the White House. It will mark the first meeting between a Syrian and an American president at the White House. 

Sharaa, who seized power from Syria’s long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad in December last year and was appointed interim president in late January, has been re-establishing ties with the international community ever since.

Trump and Sharaa met in Saudi Arabia in May, a meeting seen as a major diplomatic boost for the interim Syrian government. 

Sharaa addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, becoming the first Syrian leader to address the assembly in decades. 
 
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday voted to lift terror-related sanctions on Sharaa and interior minister Anas Khattab, as requested by the US. Sharaa had been sanctioned as the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate.

During his stay in the American capital, Sharaa also visited the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  

"It was a privilege to welcome President Ahmad al-Sharaa to the IMF. We discussed the economic transformation Syrians need & deserve—which his government is making possible. I reiterated IMF's readiness to help including through our existing technical support for key institutions," Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of IMF, said on X.