President Trump announced in Saudi Arabia that he plans to lift sanctions on Syria “to give them a chance at greatness.”

Trump made the announcement while giving remarks at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum.

WATCH:

🚨 #BREAKING: President Trump just announced he will be LIFTING US sanctions on Syria "to give them a chance at greatness."

The Syrian leader is set to travel to Riyadh to meet with Trump tomorrow.

Globalists and neocons are going to be BIG mad! pic.twitter.com/mYuBYtSvWD

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 13, 2025

Per Newsweek:

Donald Trump has announced he plans to lift sanctions on Syria after the fall of the Assad regime.

Speaking at Saudi Arabian investment forum, on the first day of his Arabia trip, Trump said that he wanted to give Syrians a “chance at greatness.”

The president added that he’d made the decision speaking to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Trump is expected to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia.

Two Western & Syrian sources confirm to me: #Syria President Ahmad al-Sharaa will arrive in #Riyadh today, Tuesday.
There is a proposal for a direct bilateral or group meeting with #Trump tomorrow, Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/z6PUM61FJx

— Ibrahim Hamidi ابراهيم حميدي (@ibrahimhamidi) May 13, 2025

Axios reports:

Trump’s announcement is a dramatic shift in U.S. policy towards Syria less than six months after the collapse of the Assad regime. The sanctions crippled the Syrian economy and brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.

Trump is also expected to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the plan.

Assad’s son, Bashar al-Assad, was toppled in December in a lightning rebel offensive that brought al-Sharaa to power after 14 years of devastating civil war.

Trump said he hopes the new Syrian government manages to stabilize the country and keep the peace and stressed he will continue the process of normalization of U.S.-Syrian relations.

“After discussing the situation in Syria with the Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman] and also with President Erdogan of Turkey, who called me the other day and asked for a very similar thing … I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said with the crowd bursting into a standing ovation.

Trump said the sanctions were “brutal and crippling” and served a purpose at the time, but are no longer needed.

“Now it is their time to shine. We are taking them all off. Good luck Syria. Show us something very special,” he said.