The White House confirmed on Sunday that President Donald Trump will hold bilateral talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda jihadist who toppled Bashar Assad, at this week’s NATO summit in Turkey.
Syria is not a member of NATO and, in large part due to Assad’s close alliance with Russia and Iran, has never been previously invited to attend. Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the most prominent supporters of Sharaa’s former militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), reportedly decided to invite the Syrian leader and several other Middle Eastern partners to the summit to address various conflicts in the Middle East, particularly the U.S.-Iran conflict, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, and the ongoing situation in Gaza.
An unnamed U.S. official stated that Washington expects the current situation at the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has blockaded on-and-off for months as part of the conflict with America, to be discussed at the NATO summit.
“I certainly believe that the Strait of Hormuz and the protection of the maritime traffic going through there is going to be a subject that comes up,” the Turkish state outlet Anadolu Agency quoted the official as stating. “We’ve had a lot of allies raise their hand and offer to participate with their capabilities.”
The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that Erdogan himself will hold a meeting with President Trump on July 7, a day after a meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte as part of his hosting duties. Trump is expected to hold two bilateral meetings on July 8, one with Sharaa and one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, signaling a significant elevation in Syria’s geopolitical profile since Sharaa seized power in December 2024. Notably, while Assad was allied with the Russian government, which actively aided him during the civil war Sharaa ultimately won, Sharaa has met with Zelensky personally on multiple occasions and developed a robust bilateral relationship with Ukraine, supporting the country against the ongoing Russian invasion of its territory.
Reports first surfaced in May that Erdogan was interested in inviting Sharaa to the NATO summit, an unprecedented move. Some suggested that Erdogan was seeking to leverage Middle Eastern alliances to shift NATO’s interest to conflicts in that region over the Ukraine war and other issues more pressing to Europe. In June, the Kurdish outlet Rudaw reported that Sharaa had accepted the invitation — unsurprising given his eagerness to attend a variety of international events, perhaps most eye-poppingly the COP30 climate alarmism summit in November. At the time, the final schedule of Sharaa’s attendance and his meetings with other leaders was yet to be finalized.
Trump and Sharaa have met on at least two occasions: once while both were visiting Saudi Arabia in May 2025, and once during a visit by Sharaa to the White House in November. Following their first visit, Trump was highly complimentary of the former wanted al-Qaeda terrorist, describing him as a “young, attractive guy” with “a real shot at pulling it together.”
Trump and Sharaa appeared to share a friendly exchange at the White House in November, as Trump gifted the Syrian leader with cologne and stated that Sharaa “had a rough past. We all have rough pasts… if you didn’t have a rough past you wouldn’t have a chance.”
The American president was highly complimentary of Sharaa in comments during the G7 summit in June as well, telling reporters he believed the Syrian government would be more competent in eliminating terrorist elements in Lebanon than Israel. The Israeli government invaded southern Lebanon in February as President Trump launched Operation Epic Fury in Iran, stating that Israel’s security required the elimination of the Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah was allied with Assad and fought against HTS and Sharaa’s forces during the Syrian civil war.
“Israel is fighting Hezbollah too long and too many people are being killed,” Trump said at the G7 summit. “And you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody… I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah.”
“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah,” he continued. “Because to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it. He’s [Sharaa] very capable. And he’s been very good for me… And if Israel can’t do the job without killing everyone else, he’ll do the job. Syria will do the job.”
Sharaa’s government has adamantly refused a military role in Lebanon. The country sent its foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, to Beirut last week, reportedly in part to assure Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that his government was not considering Trump’s offer.
“The president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, has repeatedly assured me during our meetings and conversations that Syria’s role will no longer be what it was in the past,” Aoun said on Thursday, “that a new chapter has opened between our two countries, and that Syria will no longer stand with one Lebanese faction against another, but with all the Lebanese.”
Shaibani reportedly stated that his government is open to having conversations with Hezbollah if it would help facilitate peace in the country.
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