Donald Trump is set to meet Syria’s President Ahmed al Sharaa – a man once imprisoned by the US – in Saudi Arabia shortly, after announcing yesterday he would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria. Listen to the new episode of The World podcast as you catch up below.
Wednesday 14 May 2025 08:06, UK
Canadians “weren’t impressed” by the decision of the UK government to offer Donald Trump a second state visit to the UK, the country’s prime minister has told Sky News.
In an interview with presenter Samantha Washington, Mark Carney said that the invitation “cut across clear messages” that the Canadian government was trying to send to the White House in response to their threats against Canada’s sovereignty.
“I think, to be frank, they [Canadians] weren’t impressed by that gesture… given the circumstance. It was at a time when we were being quite clear about the issues around sovereignty.”
You can watch what Carney had to say here…
Some more details now from the White House on Donald Trump’s expected meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa, which is due to happen in the next few minutes.
The two leaders are due to speak before the Gulf Cooperation Council Leaders’ (GCC) summit in Riyadh, which is scheduled to start at 8am UK time.
“The president will do a pull aside with Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa ahead of the GCC Summit this morning,” the White House said in a statement.
A pull aside is an informal conversation or meeting between leaders that is usually brief.
It’s not yet confirmed where this brief conversation will be – but the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh seems likely, as it is hosting the GCC meeting.
As we reported earlier, the two leaders will talk after it was announced the US would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria (see post at 6.48am).
Donald Trump received a lavish welcome yesterday in Riyadh and the pomp and grandeur is likely to continue when he lands in Qatar.
Here is the US leader’s schedule for the day (all below timings are UK):
It’s also expected we’ll see another signing ceremony in Qatar today but the times for this, and the details of any US-Qatar agreement, are unconfirmed.
As Donald Trump receives a royal welcome in Saudi Arabia, Sky’s US correspondents Mark Stone and James Matthews discuss the $600bn (£451bn) deal signed between the two nations, and the love-in between the countries’ leaders.
Plus, Mark, who’s in the Middle East with Trump, describes the reaction in the room when Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria.
If you’ve got a question you’d like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
In a few hours, Donald Trump will meet with Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa in a face-to-face meeting.
This comes after he announced the US would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria that would have been in place since 2011.
Why is this a surprise?
The Syrian leader is a one-time insurgent leader who spent years imprisoned by US forces after being captured in Iraq.
He was named president of Syria in January, a month after an offensive by insurgent groups led by his Hayat Tahrir al Sham, or HTS, stormed Damascus and ended the 54-year rule of the Assad family.
Formerly known as Abu Mohammed al Jolani, al Sharaa joined al Qaeda insurgents battling US forces in Iraq and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in that country.
The US once offered $10m for information about his whereabouts because of his links to al Qaeda.
The new Syrian president came back to his home country of Syria after the conflict began in 2011 and led al Qaeda’s branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front.
He later changed the name of his group to Hayat Tahrir al Sham and cut links with al Qaeda.
Trump said he agreed to meet with al Sharaa after being encouraged to do so by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
You can read more about al Sharaa below, in our profile from December when his forces overthrew Assad:
Donald Trump will today meet Syria’s president in Saudi Arabia following a surprise announcement yesterday that the US would lift long-standing sanctions on Syria.
The US president revealed plans to lift sanctions following talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He also agreed to say hello to interim Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa, who will be in Riyadh for meetings with the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Yesterday, Trump’s first day of a four-day swing through the Gulf region was marked by lavish ceremony and business deals, including a £450bn commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US and £107bn in US arms sales to the kingdom.
Later today, Trump will fly to the Qatari capital Doha, where he will participate in a state visit with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and other officials.
Qatar, a key US ally, is expected to announce hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the US while Trump is there.
Welcome back to our live coverage as Donald Trump’s tour of the Middle East continues.
It’s his second and final day in Saudi Arabia, where yesterday he signed a £107bn defence agreement as part of a wider £450bn deal encompassing energy, tech and aerospace investments.
He also hailed the bond between the US and Saudi Arabia as “more powerful than ever” during a speech in the capital Riyadh.
Today, he’s expected to meet with Syria’s President Ahmed al Sharaa, who ousted former dictator Bashar al Assad after leading a lightning rebel offensive across the country in December.
This meeting comes after Trump announced he is lifting US sanctions on Syria to give the country a “chance at greatness” as it rebuilds after more than half a century of Assad family rule.
After that, Trump will head to Qatar, where he’s expected to accept a free plane from the royal family, gifted as a replacement for Air Force One – which we explained yesterday is already in the US.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest.
Thanks for joining us – we’ll be back in the morning with all the latest from Donald Trump’s tour of the Middle East.
Before then, here’s a recap of the biggest stories from the last 24 hours:
Watch: Trump’s Syria announcement and hopes for Middle East’s ‘Golden Age’
For more expert analysis, catch up on the latest from our team of editors and correspondents:
Donald Trump’s speech in Riyadh will go down in history as “very favourable” in that part of the world, according to the editor of Arab News.
Fasial Abbas said Trump passed on “very important messages” and looked like a “true statesman and man of peace”.
Speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim, he added: “I think everybody left the room feeling that this visit, this speech, has been about tomorrow, about the future, about the next 80 years.
“And from what we’ve heard today, it’s going to be very positive.”
Watch his full interview below, in which he compares Trump’s view of the US-Saudi partnership to “renewing vows”…
The first day of Donald Trump’s already eventful Middle East tour is coming to a close.
Here, lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim looks at how it unfolded for the US president…
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