WASHINGTON 

The US will take all possible steps to aid Syria as it emerges from decades of Assad family rule, President Donald Trump said Monday after meeting behind closed doors with his Syrian counterpart.

Addressing reporters after meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa for nearly two hours, Trump said his administration will "do everything we can to make Syria successful," hailing Sharaa as "a very strong leader."

"He comes from a very tough place, and he's a tough guy. I liked him. I get along with him, the president, the new president in Syria," the US president said in the Oval Office.

Trump forecasted forthcoming announcements on Syria but did not detail them, saying only that "we want to see Syria become a country that's very successful, and I think this leader can do it."

"He has had a rough past. And I think, frankly, if you didn't have a rough past, you wouldn't have a chance. He gets along very well with Turkey, with President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan, who's a great leader. Erdogan is a great leader. And very much in favor of what's happening in Syria. We have to make Syria work," he said.

"Syria is a big part of the Middle East, and I will tell you, I think it is working. And really well. We're working also with Israel, on, you know, getting along with Syria, getting along with everybody. And that's working amazingly," he added.

Sharaa's visit was the first by a Syrian leader to the White House since the nation gained independence nearly 80 years ago.

Sharaa and Trump were expected to focus on the removal of sanctions imposed by the US during Assad regime rule that crippled the Syrian economy, efforts to formally bring Damascus into the anti-ISIS (Daesh) coalition, and potential talks on normalization with Israel – one of Trump's stated goals.

No formal readout of the meeting was immediately issued by the White House.

The Trump administration has taken a series of measures to alleviate diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria and its leader as the country enters a new chapter in its history after over 13 years of brutal civil war, including the lifting of some sanctions.

Trump began the process of lifting US sanctions on Syria following a meeting with Sharaa in May in Saudi Arabia. After that sit-down, the US president described his Syrian counterpart as a "young, attractive guy, tough guy, strong past," signaling a dramatic departure from decades of enmity that had defined US-Syrian relations under the Assads.