"During the visit, Syria announced that it is joining the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh," becoming the 90th member of the alliance and "partnering with the United States to eliminate the terror group’s remnants and halt foreign fighter flows," the senior administration official said.

 

The official added that the United States was also allowing Syria "to resume operations at its Embassy in Washington to further counterterrorism, security, and economic coordination."

 

Syria's President Ahmed Al Sharaa met President Donald Trump at the White House for unprecedented talks Monday.

 

In remarkable scenes just days after he was removed from Washington's terrorism list, Sharaa climbed out of his motorcade to greet crowds of supporters outside the US presidential mansion.

 

Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Al Assad late last year, is the first Syrian leader to visit the White House since the country's 1946 independence.

 

The 43-year-old's group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), was formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda but was itself removed from Washington's terrorism list in July.

 

Syria's presidency said on X that Sharaa and Trump discussed the bilateral relationship, "the ways to strengthen and develop it, as well as a number of regional and international issues of common interest."

 

Unusually for the normally camera-friendly Trump, the meeting with the Syrian leader took place behind closed doors without the media present.

 

But Syria's presidency published photos of Trump standing and shaking hands with a smiling Sharaa beside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

 

Other pictures showed the Syrian leader sitting opposite Trump with top US officials including Vice President JD Vance, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth and top US military officer Dan Caine.

 

There was no immediate reaction from the White House.

 

Trump said last week that Sharaa was doing a "very good job. It's a tough neighborhood. And he's a tough guy."

 

'Attractive guy'

 

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

 

Sharaa's White House visit is "a hugely symbolic moment for the country's new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman," said Michael Hanna, US program director at the International Crisis Group.

 

The Syrian leader met Trump for the first time in Saudi Arabia during the US leader's regional tour in May. At the time the 79-year-old Trump dubbed Sharaa, 43, a "a young, attractive guy."

 

The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus "to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel," a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.

 

Washington has also been pushing for some kind of pact to end decades of enmity between Syria and Israel, part of Trump's wider goal to shore up the fragile Gaza ceasefire with a broader Middle East peace settlement.

 

For his part, Sharaa was expected to seek US funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of devastating civil war.

 

After his arrival in Washington, Sharaa over the weekend met with IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva over possible aid.