Top Obama Official Praises Trump’s Latest Move in Middle East: ‘The Right Thing to Do’

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

President Donald Trump received some rare praise on Tuesday from some of his fiercest critics over his decision to lift all U.S. sanctions on Syria.

Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor shared a clip of Trump making the announcement during his speech in Saudi Arabia and commented, “Credit to @POTUS — this is a politically fraught decision that is absolutely the right thing to do. Keeping crushing sanctions intended for Assad on the new Syrian government was bound to end in disaster. Removing them now gives the al-Sharaa administration a chance.”

Not everyone was quite as impressed with the move as Vietor and many of his followers on X let him know it. “Come on man. Do better Tommy,” wrote one user who shared a Monday headline from the National Review that read, “Syria’s New President Pitches a ‘Trump Tower Damascus.’”

Vietor, who served as a spokesman in the Obama admin and was nicknamed by colleagues “Tehran Tommy,” replied to the critic. “People that tweet “do better” might be the most annoying humans on the internet. I don’t care if Syria offers Trump a 747 filled with Captagon. Getting rid of sanctions is the right thing to do. It’s ok to say it,” he wrote.

The National Review reported on Monday that Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is set to hold talks with Trump on Tuesday, “has reportedly offered Mr Trump investment opportunities, including a Trump tower in Damascus.” Trump made clear in his announcement that both Turkey, which backed al-Sharaa, and the Saudis asked him to lift sanctions on Syria. “Oh, what I do for the Crown Prince,” Trump joked while making the announcement.

The Economist’s Gregg Carlstrom called Trump’s Syria announcement “welcome news” as most pundits and observers applauded the move, which should help the war-torn country rebuild and be less dependent on historic allies like Iran.