W
ho would have imagined one year ago that Ahmad al-Sharaa, who then featured prominently on United Nations and Washington blacklists, would become the first-ever Syrian president to be received in the Oval Office at the White House? As of November 2024, the former jihadist, who spent time in prisons operated by the United States in Iraq, had indeed distanced himself from terrorism. But he was confined to the enclave of Idlib in the country's northwest, and Bashar al-Assad clung to power in Damascus. However, an imminent lightning offensive the following month would reveal that power to be based on little more than illusion and pretense.
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Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first Syrian president ever invited to the White House
The remarkable journey to the present moment is not solely the result of one man's transformation. It was also made possible by Donald Trump, who, after others, has chosen to take al-Sharaa at his word, namely on the advice of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On the eve of the historic visit to the White House, symbolic progress has been achieved.
