Trump says he will remove Syria from terrorism sponsors list

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would remove Syria from the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list after a bilateral meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. Trump also notified Congress that his administration intended to rescind Syria’s designation, starting a 45-day review before the change can take effect.

The move would unwind a label Syria has carried since 1979, the longest-running designation of its kind. That status has restricted U.S. foreign assistance, defense exports and certain financial transactions, giving the listing legal and economic force well beyond symbolism. Trump already took one step in that direction last month, signing an executive order that terminated a U.S. sanctions program on Syria.

The practical payoff, if Congress lets the delisting stand, would be broad but uncertain. Supporters say it could help unlock private-sector investment, ease financial normalization and give Syria’s postwar recovery a path to capital that has been mostly closed off since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024 and the rise of al-Sharaa’s government. For Washington, the bet is that legal relief and diplomatic recognition can be exchanged for behavior change from a new government still trying to prove it can govern without reviving old militant ties.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had informed Congress of the intent to rescind the designation, framing the decision around the new Syrian government’s assurances that it will not support international terrorism in the future. Rubio said the move followed positive changes and counterterrorism actions by the Syrian government. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has said al-Sharaa and the new Syrian government have shown continued commitment to counterterrorism operations inside Syria.

The politics remain volatile because al-Sharaa was once the commander of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front in Syria before breaking with the group in 2016. That history gives the delisting debate its sharpest edge: supporters see an opportunity to reset U.S.-Syria relations after years of war, while critics and victims of the Assad era are likely to view any loosening of pressure as an open question about accountability, reliability and what, exactly, Washington is receiving in return.