Al-Shara’s visit, scheduled for November 10, will be the first visit by a Syrian president to the White House.
Published November 2, 2025
US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Syria’s interim leader this month, marking the first visit by a Syrian president to the US capital.
Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani said in a speech on Sunday that the visit would help open a “new chapter” in relations between Damascus and Washington.
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“President Ahmed al-Shalah will visit the White House in early November,” al-Shaibani said in a speech in Bahrain. “Of course, this is a historic visit. It is the first visit to the White House by a Syrian president in more than 80 years.
“Many issues will be on the agenda, including the lifting of sanctions and the beginning of a new chapter between the United States and Syria. We want to establish a very strong partnership between our two countries.”
Earlier, US news website Axios quoted Tom Barrack, the US special envoy to Syria, as saying that al-Shara is expected to sign an agreement to join the US-led international coalition against ISIS during his visit.
Meeting with President Trump
Al-Shallah, which seized power from President Bashar al-Assad in December, has sought to rebuild Syria’s relations with world powers that shunned Damascus during the regime of al-Assad.
He met with President Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, marking the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in 25 years.
The meeting, which coincided with President Trump’s meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders, was seen as a major turn of events for Syria, which is still adjusting to life after more than 50 years of rule by the al-Assad family.
Al-Shallah also spoke at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
He once led an al-Qaeda faction in Syria. Ten years ago, his anti-Assad group broke away from the network and later clashed with ISIL. Al-Shallah once had a $10 million bounty on his back.
Before joining the Syrian war, the Syrian president joined fighters fighting U.S. forces in Iraq. He was also imprisoned there by the US military for several years.
The US-led coalition and local partners drove ISIL from its last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
Al-Shara’s visit to Washington, D.C., comes as President Trump calls on Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to build lasting peace in the volatile region, after Israel and Hamas began implementing a ceasefire and prisoner exchange last month. The agreement aims to bring a permanent end to Israel’s two-year war in Gaza.
Although a fragile ceasefire continues, the situation remains unstable.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement, which the Damascus government hopes will ensure an end to Israeli airstrikes on its territory and the withdrawal of Israeli forces that have invaded southern Syria.
