Trump to sign executive order to terminate Syria sanctions: White House

US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Monday afternoon to terminate the US’ sanctions program on Syria, according to the White House, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to reporters at the daily briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move aims to support Syria’s “path to stability and peace.”

“The order will remove sanctions on Syria while maintaining sanctions on the former President Assad, his associates, human rights abusers, drug traffickers, persons linked to chemical weapons activities, ISIS and their affiliates, and Iranian proxies,” she added.

“This is again an action that the president promised and shocked the world with in Saudi Arabia, because he’s committed to supporting a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbors,” she said.

Last month, Trump announced at an investment forum in Riyadh that he would lift the “brutal and crippling” sanctions on Syria. A day later, he held a landmark meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia—the first meeting between US and Syrian leaders in 25 years.

Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly a quarter century, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, marking the end of the Baath Party’s decades-long rule, which began in 1963. Al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces that ousted Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January.