DOHA--U.S. President Donald Trump met with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and urged him to normalise ties with longtime foe Israel after a surprise U.S. announcement that it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.
Trump then flew to Qatar, where he oversaw the signing of a deal for the Gulf Arab country to buy jets from U.S. manufacturer Boeing. (See page 25)
He did not mention a controversial separate offer by Qatar to donate a Boeing jet to serve as the U.S. president's official airplane. That would be one of the most valuable gifts ever given to the United States and it has triggered alarm in Washington over its security and ethics implications.
After Trump's declaration that he would lift sanctions on Syria, which is seeking to rebuild after more than a decade of civil war, he met with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who swept to power at the head of a group that Washington has called a terrorist organisation and once pledged allegiance to al Qaeda.
Trump told reporters that Sharaa said he would be willing to eventually join the Abraham Accords, a U.S.-brokered 2020 agreement that saw the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco normalize relations with Israel. Syrian officials have signaled an openness to normalize under the right circumstances.
"I told him, 'I hope you’re going to join when it’s straightened out.’ He said, ‘Yes.’ But they have a lot of work to do," Trump said, according to a White House pool report.
Photos posted on Saudi state television showed the two men shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Trump said the meeting with Sharaa, who he described as a young, attractive guy with a very strong past, was "great".
"He's got a real shot at holding it together," said Trump.
Trump's four-day visit highlights the United States' growing ties to the oil-rich region, where his real-estate company is also developing several projects. That has raised concerns about a conflict of interest between Trump's official duties as president and his business interests. Trump has dismissed ethical concerns about his plan to accept the $400 million luxury plane from Qatar to serve as Air Force One, saying on Monday it would be "stupid" to turn down the generous offer.
Qatar, host of the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, has been working to deepen ties with Trump in his second term after falling on the wrong side of the U.S. president when he was first in office.In 2017, during Trump's first term, the tiny but hugely wealthy gas producer was isolated by a diplomatic, trade and air embargo imposed by Gulf states and some other Arab nations which accused Doha of backing terrorism and getting too close to Iran. At the time, Trump's administration sided with Doha's rivals.
In Doha, Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani announced deals that the White House said were worth $1.2 trillion. That included an agreement by Qatar Airways to buy Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines.
For some 40 years, Qatar’s “core motivation has always been their concern and their fear that Saudi and the UAE have designs on it and they saw the U.S. as the guarantor of their independence,” said Gerald Feierstein, a former U.S. diplomat with extensive experience in the Gulf.
