By David Rosenberg, World Israel News– with TJV Editor Notes

President Donald Trump met with Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former rebel leader (TJV NOTE: Al-Qaeda)  who now serves as President of Syria – during his visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

It took only 6 months. pic.twitter.com/GQFmxWfOoD

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) May 14, 2025

The two leaders met in Riyadh on Wednesday morning, during an economic summit hosted by the Saudi government.

The conservative publication National Review pointed out  the following:

Trump’s meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa is even more extraordinary than an American president meeting with some repugnant branch of the Assad family. Until late December, the U.S. government was willing to pay $10 million for information about al-Sharaa’s location, because he was on the “specially designated global terrorist” list.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was also present during the meeting.

Trump met with al-Sharaa, who recently met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, for roughly half an hour, marking the highest-level meeting ever between an American official and a Syrian leader.

TJV Noted, Washington has also been pressing Damascus to protect and respect religious minorities after recent mass killings of Alawites, Druze, and Christians, especially along the coast, in the south, and in some Damascus suburbs

Earlier in the summit, Trump had announced his plans to offer sanctions relief to Syria – a move Damascus has indicated it would be willing to make concessions for in order to achieve.

“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump announced Tuesday.

During the meeting on Wednesday, Trump pressed the Syrian leader to commit to normalizing relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords and instructing foreign terrorists and militia members aligned with foreign governments to leave the country.

Thousands of pro-Iranian terrorists, including members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, operated in Syria prior to the fall of the Assad government, and many are believed to still be operating in the country.

At a meeting with Gulf leaders Wednesday, Trump confirmed that a Syrian-Israeli peace deal was on the table.

“We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government, as you know, beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa.”

During his meet with al-Sharaa, Trump also urged Syria to deport all Palestinian terrorists present in the country, and cooperate with the U.S. in combating the Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) terror group.

Trump also urged Syria to assume control of ISIS detention centers in northeastern Syria, Trump said.

The meeting came after Trump called on Saudi Arabia to also normalize relations with Israel under the auspices of the Abraham Accords.