Former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced the lifting of long-standing sanctions on Syria, in conjunction with a $600 billion investment agreement and a $142 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.
The announcement came after Trump attended a high-profile investment forum in Riyadh, reportedly at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump described the move as a “new era” for Syria, following the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 by rebel leader and now-President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The regime change effectively ended over a decade of civil conflict in the country.
Trump is expected to meet with President Sharaa in Saudi Arabia this Wednesday (local time), in what could mark the beginning of renewed diplomatic ties between the U.S. and the new Syrian government.
The agreements signed during the forum span several sectors including energy, defense, and mining. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince stated that total investments could eventually surpass $1 trillion.
While Trump made no mention of the controversial 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he praised Crown Prince bin Salman, calling him an “incredible man.”
Among the attendees at the Riyadh forum were key global business figures including Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman. Trump was also shown futuristic development plans under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative, including NEOM—a proposed mega-city roughly the size of Belgium.
Following his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump is scheduled to travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the coming days.
