Syria’s Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former insurgent in Syria and Iraq, made history Monday as the first Syrian head of state to visit the White House, meeting President Donald Trump and members of Congress in a bid to reset relations after years of war and estrangement. The onetime militant cast the trip as a pivot toward stability at home and pragmatic engagement abroad.
In an hour-long interview with The Washington Post in Washington following the meetings, al-Sharaa said his top objective was “starting… building the relationship” between the two countries after a century of fraught ties. He argued that U.S. and Syrian interests overlap on security and economics, and linked Syria’s recovery to sanctions relief he said has been under discussion for months, claiming “good results” while waiting on a final decision.
Addressing the fate of missing people, al-Sharaa said roughly 250,000 Syrians remain unaccounted for from the war, a tally that includes foreigners such as American journalist Austin Tice. He said his government created a commission for missing persons with a special focus on Americans and is coordinating with U.S. authorities. Al-Sharaa described meeting Tice’s mother and introducing her to his own, noting he himself was missing for seven years: “She had strong belief that I would come back one day.”
Confronting criticism over his past as a fighter against U.S. forces, al-Sharaa argued that “fighting is not something shameful if it’s done for noble objectives,” insisting he has “never caused the death of an innocent person.” He said policies by Western governments helped fuel conflicts that engulfed the region and now require sober reassessment.
On persistent sectarian tensions and the safety of minorities, he said Syria is navigating a fraught transition after decades of dictatorship. Stability, he cautioned, would not arrive overnight. He accused some groups of cloaking political or territorial ambitions in religious identity and stressed Syria’s long history of coexistence: “We have been living… with different religious groups for 1,400 years.”
Al-Sharaa said Syria fought the Islamic State for a decade “without coordination with a Western force,” and is now capable of handling the threat. He proposed that U.S. troops still in Syria help supervise the integration of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces into state security institutions, after which “the task of protecting Syrian territory will be the responsibility of the state.”
Turning to Israel, he said the 1974 disengagement agreement collapsed after the fall of the Assad regime, alleging Israel expanded its presence, expelled a U.N. peacekeeping mission and carried out more than 1,000 airstrikes since Dec. 8, including on the Presidential Palace and Defense Ministry. Syria has not responded militarily, he said, to prioritize reconstruction. He confirmed direct talks with Israel and said a deal would require Israel to withdraw to pre–Dec. 8 lines, adding that Washington backs this approach and that Trump “will push as quickly as possible.”
He rejected calls to fully demilitarize areas south of Damascus, questioning who would ensure security if chaos emerges. “At the end of the day, this is Syrian territory,” he said, warning that incremental demands in the name of protection “will reach Munich on that pathway.”
Al-Sharaa called relations with Russia complex after a decade of conflict but said Syria needs Moscow’s U.N. Security Council vote and broader strategic ties. He vowed to preserve Syrians’ right to pursue justice against Bashar al-Assad even as Damascus works to avoid forcing Russia into “alternative options.”
Whether Washington eases sanctions—and whether Damascus delivers on reform, security integration and a negotiated easing of tensions with Israel—will determine if the reset al-Sharaa envisions takes hold.
Photo: The source