EMOLUMENTS AND GRIFT
Sources are saying that Syria's al-Sharaa is attempting to meet with Trump over its US policy on the country, and may woo him with a potential Trump Tower.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
12 May, 2025
Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to lift US and Western-imposed sanctions on the country [Getty/file photo]
A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and US access to Syria's oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa's strategic pitch to try to get face time with US President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington.
Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist, who on 30 April met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark - if highly unlikely - meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from US sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war.
Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican President and his administration's thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel.
Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump's history of breaking with longstanding US foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea in 2019.
"Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country," Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel.
"He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbours. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel," said Bass.
Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said.
Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment.
Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency.
A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation.
"Whether or not the meeting takes place won't be known until the last moment," the person said.
'Push underway'
To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the US president's visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump's packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump's team on how to tackle Syria.
A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-US meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump's visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa.
"There is definitely a push underway," said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.
"The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past."
Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a US official familiar with the policy-making said.
That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the US delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said.
US officials conveyed to Shaibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the US demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said.
The US Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said.
The US State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the US side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions.
White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria's interim authorities would determine the future US support or possible sanctions relief.
'Olive branch'
A key aim of Syria's overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country's rebels-turned rulers ousted former regime leader Bashar al-Assad last year.
Israel's ground forces have occupied territory in southwestern Syria while the government has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralised and isolated.
Israel has said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Syria has rejected the strikes as escalatory.
Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Reuters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE.
In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials.
But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria's rulers to protect the country's Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants.
"Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles," Bass said.
"We need Trump to help sort this relationship out."
Trump Tower Damascus? Syria seeks to charm US president for sanctions relief
With Gulf help, Sharaa launches bid to get face time with Trump during his Mideast visit with a pitch that includes a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas
By Timour Azhari and Humeyra Pamuk
Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican president and his administration’s thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel.
Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump’s history of breaking with longstanding US foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 2019.
“Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country,” Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel.
US President Donald Trump speaks before Steve Witkoff is sworn as special envoy in the Oval Office of the White House, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
“He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel,” said Bass.
Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said.
Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment.
Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency.
A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation.
“Whether or not the meeting takes place won’t be known until the last moment,” the person said.
‘Push underway’
To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the US president’s visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump’s packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump’s team on how to tackle Syria.
A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-US meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump’s visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa.
“There is definitely a push underway,” said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.
“The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past.”
Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a US official familiar with the policy-making said.
That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the US delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said.
Accompanied by unidentified members of the delegation, US congressman Cory Mills (Republican of Florida), second from right, walks in the Old City of Damascus, April 18, 2025. Mills is in Damascus in an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit, the first visit by US legislators since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
US officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the US demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said.
The US Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said.
The US State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the US side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions.
White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria’s interim authorities would determine the future US support or possible sanctions relief.
‘Olive branch’
A key aim of Syria’s overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country’s rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad last year.
Israel says the strikes were largely aimed at destroying Syria’s military and chemical arsenal to stop them falling into the hands of the new regime.
Israel’s ground forces have also occupied a buffer zone in southwestern Syria along the border, while the government has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralized and isolated.
The IDF described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area “indefinitely.”
Israel has also said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Sectarian violence in Syria has escalated in recent weeks, as Islamist supporters of the country’s new regime have targeted Druze communities in clashes in southern Syria. Reports have put the death toll from the fighting at around 100.
Troops of the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade operate in southern Syria, in a handout photo issued on May 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel has vowed to protect the Syrian Druze community from threats, and the IDF has struck targets in the country as a “warning” to the new regime.
Syria’s government has condemned Israel’s strikes as escalatory and as foreign interference, and says the new government in Damascus is working to unify the country after 14 years of civil war.
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Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Reuters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE.
In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials.
But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria’s rulers to protect the country’s Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants.
“Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles,” Bass said.
“We need Trump to help sort this relationship out.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
With Gulf help, Sharaa launches bid to get face time with Trump during his Mideast visit with a pitch that includes a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas
By Timour Azhari and Humeyra Pamuk
Today
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa listens during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 7, 2025. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via AP)
DAMASCUS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s strategic pitch to try to get face time with US President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington.
Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark — if highly unlikely — meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from US sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war.
Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa listens during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 7, 2025. (Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via AP)
DAMASCUS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A Trump Tower in Damascus, a detente with Israel and US access to Syria’s oil and gas are part of Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s strategic pitch to try to get face time with US President Donald Trump during his trip to the Middle East, according to several sources familiar with the push to woo Washington.
Jonathan Bass, an American pro-Trump activist who on April 30 met Sharaa for four hours in Damascus, along with Syrian activists and Gulf Arab states has been trying to arrange a landmark — if highly unlikely — meeting between the two leaders this week on the sidelines of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from US sanctions, which keep the country cut off from the global financial system and make economic recovery extremely challenging after 14 years of grinding war.
Bass hopes that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who still remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican president and his administration’s thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel.
Part of the bet for the effort is based on Trump’s history of breaking with longstanding US foreign policy taboos, such as when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea in 2019.
“Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country,” Bass said, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel.
US President Donald Trump speaks before Steve Witkoff is sworn as special envoy in the Oval Office of the White House, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
“He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbors. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel,” said Bass.
Sharaa also shared what he saw as a personal connection with Trump: both have been shot at, narrowly surviving attempts on their lives, Bass said.
Syrian officials and a presidency media official did not respond to a request for comment.
Sharaa spoke with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday, according to the Syrian presidency.
A person close to Sharaa said afterwards a Trump-Sharaa meeting remained possible in Saudi Arabia, but would not confirm whether Sharaa had received an invitation.
“Whether or not the meeting takes place won’t be known until the last moment,” the person said.
‘Push underway’
To be clear, a Trump-Sharaa meeting during the US president’s visit to the region is widely seen as unlikely, given Trump’s packed schedule, his priorities and lack of consensus within Trump’s team on how to tackle Syria.
A source familiar with ongoing efforts said a high-level Syria-US meeting was set to take place in the region during the week of Trump’s visit, but that it would not be between Trump and Sharaa.
“There is definitely a push underway,” said Charles Lister, head of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute.
“The idea is that getting to Trump directly is the best avenue because there are just too many ideologues within the administration to get past.”
Washington is yet to formulate and articulate a coherent Syria policy, but the administration has increasingly been viewing relations with Damascus from a perspective of counterterrorism, three sources including a US official familiar with the policy-making said.
That approach was illustrated by the make-up of the US delegation in a meeting last month between Washington and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in New York, which included a senior counterterrorism official from the State Department, two of the sources said.
Accompanied by unidentified members of the delegation, US congressman Cory Mills (Republican of Florida), second from right, walks in the Old City of Damascus, April 18, 2025. Mills is in Damascus in an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit, the first visit by US legislators since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December.(AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
US officials conveyed to Shibani that Washington found steps taken by Damascus to be insufficient, particularly on the US demand to remove foreign fighters from senior posts in the army and expel as many of them as possible, the sources said.
The US Treasury has since conveyed its own demands on the Syrian government, bringing the number of conditions to more than a dozen, one of the sources said.
The US State Department declined to disclose who attended the meeting from the US side and said it does not comment on private diplomatic discussions.
White House National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said the actions of Syria’s interim authorities would determine the future US support or possible sanctions relief.
‘Olive branch’
A key aim of Syria’s overtures to Washington is communicating that it poses no threat to Israel, which has escalated airstrikes in Syria since the country’s rebels-turned rulers ousted former strongman Bashar al-Assad last year.
Israel says the strikes were largely aimed at destroying Syria’s military and chemical arsenal to stop them falling into the hands of the new regime.
Israel’s ground forces have also occupied a buffer zone in southwestern Syria along the border, while the government has lobbied the US to keep Syria decentralized and isolated.
The IDF described its presence in southern Syria’s buffer zone as a temporary and defensive measure, though Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that troops will remain deployed to nine army posts in the area “indefinitely.”
Israel has also said it aims to protect Syrian minority groups. Sectarian violence in Syria has escalated in recent weeks, as Islamist supporters of the country’s new regime have targeted Druze communities in clashes in southern Syria. Reports have put the death toll from the fighting at around 100.
Troops of the 810th “Mountains” Regional Brigade operate in southern Syria, in a handout photo issued on May 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
Israel has vowed to protect the Syrian Druze community from threats, and the IDF has struck targets in the country as a “warning” to the new regime.
Syria’s government has condemned Israel’s strikes as escalatory and as foreign interference, and says the new government in Damascus is working to unify the country after 14 years of civil war.
Advertisement
Sharaa last week confirmed indirect negotiations with Israel aimed at calming tensions, after Reuters reported that such talks had occurred via the UAE.
In a separate effort, Bass said Sharaa told him to pass messages between Syria and Israel that may have led to a direct meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials.
But Israel soon resumed strikes, including one near the presidential palace, which it framed as a message to Syria’s rulers to protect the country’s Druze minority amid clashes with Sunni militants.
“Sharaa sent the Israelis an olive branch. Israel sent missiles,” Bass said.
“We need Trump to help sort this relationship out.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Top left, the plane at Palm Beach airport and below, the interior (Pictures: Reuters/AFP/AMAC Aerospace)
