Trump to host Syrian president in historic White House meeting amid push for regional peace

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visits the White House Monday in a historic diplomatic step to test whether Damascus can rejoin international diplomacy.

Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent. Her work has taken her to 40 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter.

During the visit, the official said, "Syria will announce that it is joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Syria will thus become the 90th member of the D-ISIS Coalition, partnering with the United States to eliminate ISIS remnants and halt foreign fighter flows."

The visit follows a week of major policy shifts. On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council voted 14-0, with China abstaining, to remove sanctions on al-Sharaa and Syria’s interior minister. Additionally, Reuters reported that al-Sharaa and his interior minister, Anas Khattab, had formerly been subject to financial sanctions targeted at al Qaeda and ISIS, with the United States designating them Specially Designated Global Terrorists.