President Trump bucked critics in his administration and security hawks in Israel in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria and embrace its new leader, a U.S.-designated terrorist who formerly

President Trump met with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and urged him to expel "Palestinian terrorists" from the country and sign onto the historic Abraham Accords.

Syria's Ahmed al-Sharaa has transformed himself from al Qaeda militant to Syrian president in a dramatic political rise capped on Wednesday by a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The encounter in Saudi Arabia is a milestone for a man who joined al Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the 2003 U.