Overview
- Ahmed al-Sharaa is scheduled to meet President Trump at the White House on Monday.
- The State Department said it delisted al-Sharaa after progress on locating missing Americans and eliminating remaining chemical weapons.
- Analysts say this is the first visit to the United States by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946.
- U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said he hopes al-Sharaa will sign an agreement to join the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State during the trip.
- A diplomatic source told AFP the United States plans a base near Damascus to coordinate aid and watch Syria–Israel developments, a report not confirmed by Washington.