Reuters: The Syrian administration seeks to appease Trump through a tower in Damascus and rapprochement with Israel
Reuters reported in a story titled “Trump Tower in Damascus? Syria Seeks to Appease US President to Ease Sanctions” that the construction of a Trump Tower, rapprochement with Israel, and US oil and gas contracts in Syria are all part of Ahmed al Sharaa’s strategy to secure a meeting with Trump during his recent visit to the Middle East.
Reuters quoted unnamed sources as saying that a meeting between Ahmed al Sharaa and Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia is still possible, but it remains unclear whether it will happen until the last minute.
Reuter added that a high-level Syrian-American meeting will be held, but not between Trump and al Sharaa.
According to US officials, they informed Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al Shaibani that the measures taken by the new administration regarding foreign fighters were insufficient.
Meanwhile, an American businessman who recently met with Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al Sharaa, in Damascus, reported that the latter didn’t seek the presidency.
American businessman Jonathan Bass said, that al Sharaa told him during their meeting in Damascus, “I didn’t seek this position to govern… I accepted it because Syria must turn the page on its past… I would rather contribute to writing this history—with others—than see it torn apart again… We’ve no choice but to succeed… We must make Syria great again!”
It’s worth noting that Sharaa, days after the regime’s fall, responded to a question about running for the Syrian presidency by saying, “If the Syrian people don’t ask for it, I’ll be comfortable”.
