Officials across US government scramble to implement Trump’s surprise Syria announcement
CNN
When President Donald Trump announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria during his trip to the Middle East this week, it marked a major policy shift that could reshape the region and triggered a scramble across the US government to implement the decision, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
When President Donald Trump announced the lifting of US sanctions on Syria during his trip to the Middle East this week, it marked a major policy shift that could reshape the region and triggered a scramble across the US government to implement the decision, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Trump administration officials had for months been carrying out quiet engagements to pave the way for sanctions relief and a potential high-level engagement with the former jihadist turned interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, but the announcement sanctions would swiftly be removed altogether took some officials by surprise, according to the sources. “This was not an off-the-cuff decision by the president. The possibility had been discussed for months, but Trump barreled far beyond what was happening at the working level,” said a source familiar with the discussions. The meeting would have been unimaginable until very recently. Syria had been engulfed by a brutal civil war that lasted more than a decade until al-Sharaa led forces that ousted Bashar al-Assad’s brutal government in December. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered some clarity on how the policy shift would work about 24 hours after Trump’s remarks: the US would issue waivers to Syria sanctions, which are currently required by law. “If we make enough progress, we’d like to see the law repealed, because you’re going to struggle to find people to invest in a country when any in six months, sanctions could come back. We’re not there yet. That’s premature,” Rubio said.
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