Asked by reporters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain whether Sharaa would head to Washington this month, Tom Barrack said “yes”, adding that Sharaa would “hopefully” sign up to the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh.

It would be the Syrian leader’s first visit to Washington and his second visit to the US after a landmark UN trip in September where the former militant became the first Syrian president in decades to address the General Assembly in New York.

Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.

Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their own radical past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.

The United States had already been collaborating with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight Daesh in Syria.

“The administration supports repealing the Caesar Act. Congress should include the repeal in the NDAA,” a State Department spokesperson told Anadolu.

The spokesperson added that the “cessation of sanctions against Syria preserves the integrity of our primary objective – the enduring defeat of Daesh – and will give the people of Syria a chance for a better future.”

“The United States is in regular communication with regional partners and welcomes any investment or engagement in Syria that supports the chance for all Syrians to have a peaceful and prosperous country,” the spokesperson continued.

It follows Trump’s May 2025 announcement to lift most US sanctions on Syria after meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia—the first between US and Syrian leaders in 25 years. At the time, Trump described the sanctions as “brutal and crippling,” and added that lifting them would “give Syria a chance at greatness.”

On June 30, Trump signed an executive order to end US sanctions against Syria, though the 2019 Caesar Act authorizing such measures remains in force. Syria’s new government considers the Caesar Act sanctions an obstacle to the country’s recovery after nearly 14 years of war that devastated Syria’s economy and infrastructure.

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-government forces that ousted Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January, pledging to rebuild the country and restore stability.