Trump signs an executive order ending US sanctions on Syria
[July 01, 2025]
By FATIMA HUSSEIN and MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on
Monday ending many U.S. economic sanctions on Syria, following through
on a promise he made to the country's new interim leader.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move was designed
to “promote and support the country's path to stability and peace.”
The executive order is meant to “end the country’s isolation from the
international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce
and galvanizing investments from its neighbors in the region, as well as
from the United States,” Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism
and financial intelligence, Brad Smith, told reporters on a call Monday
to preview the administration’s action.
Monday’s actions do not rescind sanctions imposed on ousted former
President Bashar Assad, his top aides, family members and officials who
had been determined to have committed human rights abuses or been
involved in drug trafficking or part of Syria’s chemical weapons
program.
It also leaves intact a major set of sanctions passed by Congress
targeting anyone doing business with or offering support to Syria’s
military, intelligence or other suspect institutions. While the Trump
administration has passed temporary waivers on those sanctions, known as
the Caesar Act, they can only be permanently repealed by law.
The White House posted the text of the order on X after the signing,
which was not open to the press.
The U.S. granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in May, which
was a first step toward fulfilling the Republican president’s pledge to
lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 13 years of
civil war.
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In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, President Donald
Trump, right, shakes hands with Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa,
in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 14, 2025. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal
Palace via AP)
Along with the lifting of economic sanctions, Monday’s executive
order lifts the national emergency outlined in an executive order
issued by former President George W. Bush in response to Syria’s
occupation of Lebanon and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and
missile programs, Treasury officials said. Five other previous
executive orders related to Syria were also lifted.
Sanctions targeting terrorist groups and manufacturers and sellers
of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon will remain in place.
Trump met with Syria’s interim leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi
Arabia in May and told him he would lift sanctions and explore
normalizing relations in a major policy shift in relations between
the U.S. and Syria.
“This is another promise made and promise kept,” Leavitt said
Monday.
The European Union has also followed through with lifting nearly all
remaining sanctions on Syria.
Still, some restrictions remain in place. The U.S. still designates
Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism and the group led by al-Sharaa
as a foreign terrorist organization.
A State Department official said the department is reviewing those
designations.
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