ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON 

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit the White House on Monday to meet US President Donald Trump, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.

It will be the first White House visit by a Syrian president in 80 years.

“I can confirm that that meeting will be taking place here at the White House on Monday," Leavitt told reporters.

She described the meeting as part of Trump’s diplomatic outreach to promote global peace.

Trump and Sharaa met in Saudi Arabia in May, the first encounter between the leaders of the two nations in 25 years.

Leavitt pointed to recent US policy shifts toward Syria following Trump’s visit to the Middle East.

“When the president was in the Middle East, he made the historic decision to lift sanctions on Syria to give them a real chance at peace, and I think the administration, we’ve seen good progress on that front under their new leadership,” she said.

Trump announced he would lift most of the US sanctions imposed on Syria in May.

On June 30, Trump signed an executive order to end the sanctions against Syria.

Syria announced the trip Sunday but did not specify the exact date. Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the visit will help open a “new chapter” in relations between Damascus and Washington.

Bashar al-Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly a quarter century, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, marking the end of the Baath Party’s decades-long rule, which began in 1963.

Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces that ousted Assad, was declared president for a transitional period in late January, pledging to rebuild the country and restore stability.

Syria has been working to revive the country’s economy by attracting investors and signing trade agreements with regional states and companies.