White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds press briefing on May 19, 2025. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
WASHINGTON DC - US President Donald Trump is set to terminate Washington’s comprehensive sanctions program on Syria on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Rudaw, adding that the move is intended “to promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace.”
Leavitt confirmed that President Trump “will be signing an executive order” on Monday to “terminate the United States sanctions program on Syria.”
She emphasized that the order will lift broad sanctions on Syria while maintaining targeted sanctions on toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, as well as “his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, [the Islamic State] ISIS and their affiliates, and Iranian proxies.
“This is in an effort to promote and support the country's path to stability and peace,” Leavitt asserted.
President Trump first announced the move in mid-May as part of a broader initiative to normalize relations with Damascus and “to give them a chance at greatness,” he said during a speech in Riyadh.
According to Leavitt, Monday’s executive order fulfills the President’s pledge made during his Middle East visit - “a commitment that shocked the world,” she noted. “He is committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors.”
Following his Riyadh announcement, Damascus’s interim government in mid-May lauded President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions as “brave and historic.” Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said the move would “alleviate our people’s suffering, contribute to the rebirth of Syria, and lay the foundations for stability in the region.”
On the same day, Sharaa met the US President in the Saudi capital, alongside the Kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan participating remotely.
The White House Press Secretary underscored to Rudaw that the Monday executive order is “another promise made by President Trump” during his diplomatic outreach in Riyadh, underscoring his commitment to long-term peace and regional stability.
Following a swift offensive, a coalition of opposition forces, led by the now-dissolved Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - then-headed by Sharaa - on December 8 toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Assad.
In late January, Sharaa was appointed interim president and has since prioritized lifting international sanctions to jumpstart economic recovery, fund reconstruction, restore basic services, and address Syria’s dire humanitarian conditions.
Prior to the Monday executive order, the US taken several incremental steps to ease sanctions on Syria.
In January, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General License 24, authorizing specific transactions to support humanitarian aid and essential services. This was followed in late May by General License 25, which broadly authorized transactions across all sectors of Syria’s economy, including investment, financial services, petroleum trade, and re-engagement with the Commercial Bank of Syria.
Around the same time, the State Department issued a 180-day waiver under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act in late May, removing a major legal obstacle to reconstruction and economic engagement. Nonetheless, targeted sanctions on individuals linked to the Assad regime, terrorism, and human rights abuses remain in effect.
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