Trump commits to remove Syria from state sponsor of terrorism list

President Trump on Wednesday committed to removing Syria from the state sponsor of terrorism list, one of the last hurdles blocking the country from rejoining the international community.

Trump was meeting with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and praised him for rehabilitating his country following the overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in December 2024.

“I think I will, yea,” the president said in a response to a reporter’s question on removing Syria from the state sponsor of terrorism list.

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s done a great job,” he added.

A State Department official told The Hill earlier that there is not yet a timeline in place for removing Syria from the list, although the matter has been under review since June 30, 2025.

The official said there are a number of steps that both the State Department and the president need to take before the designation can be removed, although they did not give details.

A bipartisan trio of lawmakers wrote to Trump earlier this month lobbying for Syria’s removal from the list, largely in response to al-Sharaa’s work with the U.S. on counterterrorism operations in the country.

The lawmakers, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), argued al-Sharaa’s government has more work to do to follow through on equal representation for women and minority constituents in Syria and ensuring security, but they said the steps taken so far are promising. Underscoring Syria’s challenges, a bomb exploded in Damascus on Tuesday while al-Sharaa hosted French President Emmanuel Macron.

Still, the lawmakers argued that removing Syria from the list would give it access to the international community and global financing to help rebuild the country. An estimated 90 percent of the population lives under the poverty line, and rebuilding the country after more than a decade of civil war is estimated to cost $216 billion.

“While Syria does need to make more progress in a variety of areas, discussed further below, the grounds for the SST designation in U.S. law no longer apply and the listing remains a significant barrier to achieving the Administration and congressional priority of giving Syria a chance to succeed,” they wrote.

Al-Sharaa, a formerly designated terrorist by the U.S., led the overthrow of the Assad regime in 2024 and issued an appeal to the U.S. and regional countries to work together for the country’s rehabilitation and turn away from instability, war and terrorism.

Congress approved a repealing of comprehensive sanctions under the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act, which Trump signed into law in December. The repeal provided a major opening for Syria to begin transacting with regional and U.S. businesses, but the terrorism designation blocks it from significant U.S. assistance.