Trump Describes Syria’s President Who Joined Al-Qaeda in Iraq to Fight U.S. Troops As Having a ‘Very Strong Past’

President Donald Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One following his meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa hours earlier.

Sharaa became president following the ouster of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and quickly had a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head removed. The U.S. put the massive bounty on Sharaa, then called Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, in 2017 over links to multiple terrorist attacks during the Syrian civil war, in which he led a winning faction.

“How did you find the Syrian president?” a reporter asked Trump.

“Great, great. I think very good, young, attractive guy, tough guy. You know, strong past, very strong past, a fighter,” Trump replied, adding:

He’s got a real shot at pulling it together. I spoke to President Erdogan, who I am very friendly with, he feels he’s got a shot. It’s a torn-up country.

Trump met with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday in a remarkable photo op with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The meeting marked the first time in 25 years that a U.S. president had met with a Syrian leader; the last time was President Bill Clinton meeting Assad’s father Hafez al-Assad in the last year of his presidency. Trump announced he was lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria ahead of the meeting, in an effort to give Syria a chance to rebuild.

Sharaa has a long history with the U.S. and was even detained in the U.S.-run detention center Camp Bucca in Iraq in 2005. Sharaa joined the terrorist organization al Qaeda in Iraq in 2003 to fight U.S. troops ahead of President George W. Bush’s invasion of the country to oust Saddam Hussein.

Sharaa reportedly met future ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while in prison in Iraq. Baghdadi, who was killed by the first Trump administration in 2019, influenced Sharaa to go fight in Syria, setting up what became the al-Nusra Front — which was initially affiliated with al-Qaeda, but later broke off ties. The group’s stated goal was to establish Islamic rule in Syria.

Watch the clip above via Sky News.

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