A MEMRI article entitled, “Qatar Continues To Finance Terror With U.S. Consent: Will Fund Syria’s New Regime, Led By HTS Terror Organization, Just As It Funded Hamas,” examined the terrorist history of Syrian leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who reverted to his original name Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, to create a false impression that he had changed, even though he remains dedicated to the jihadist cause, ie. to establish the Sharia.
Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) “was established in 2012 by Al-Sharaa (then known as Al-Joulani) at the behest of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who would soon become the founder of ISIS. In 2013 the group became the official branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria after Al-Joulani broke with Al-Baghdadi and swore allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri.”
Al-Sharaa’s followers have slaughtered Christians, Alawites and Druze since toppling Al-Assad.
The MEMRI article also exposes the modus operandi of Qatar, “the world’s greatest financer of extremist Islamist elements such as the Muslims Brotherhood and jihadi terror organizations.”
Now comes a new development. “Trump to remove US sanctions on Syria in major policy shift,” by Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid, Nafisa Eltahir and Timour Azhari, Reuters, May 14, 2025:
RIYADH/DAMASCUS, May 13 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, a major U.S. policy shift ahead of an expected meeting with Syria’s Islamist President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Trump is set to say hello to Sharaa on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, a White House official said, setting up an encounter between the president and the former al Qaeda commander who took power after Bashar al-Assad was toppled. Two Syrian presidential sources told Reuters they would meet on Wednesday morning.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh, at the start of a tour of Gulf Arab states. “It’s their time to shine. We’re taking them all off,” Trump said, “Good luck Syria, show us something very special.”
Trump said he made the decision after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose governments have both strongly urged the lifting of sanctions.
Removing U.S. sanctions that cut Syria off from the global financial system will clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations working in Syria, easing foreign investment and trade as the country rebuilds……
Recall a familiar story that backfired when America supported and supplied Afghanistan’s mujahideen with weapons, training, and financial resources from 1979 to 1992, to fight the Soviet invasion. The enemy of my enemy is not always a friend.
The fall of the al-Assad Syrian regime was bad news for its staunch ally, Iran, which was good news to America and Israel. But like the mujahideen of Afghanistan, Al-Sharaa is no friend to America and Israel, and neither is Qatar. In December, Qatar “rushed to position itself as a pivotal player in shaping Syria’s future” after the fall of al-Assad. Qatar was hand in hand with “its closest regional partner,” Turkey, which was responsible for facilitating and backing al-Sharaa before and after al-Assad’s fall.
Now al-Sharaa is making significant inroads, as his leadership is legitimized by Muslim Brotherhood-supporting Qatar (and Turkey), with new US support to boot.
Qatar has “considerable political influence over al-Sharaa’s administration,” given that four key Syrian government ministers have close ties to Qatar. Also:
Qatar’s provision of funds to the new Syrian regime to pay public sector salaries is part of a familiar Qatari strategy: a strategy that involves supporting and funding terrorist elements hostile to the West in order to promote the country’s role as a provider of international aid and as a mediator with these elements. Another prominent example of this was Qatar’s funding of the regime of the Hamas terrorist organization with billions of dollars.
So what is the end game for America?
One thing for certain is that Trump inherited Joe Biden’s complete betrayal of American interests, both domestically and abroad. Biden left open borders, poured billions into the coffers of Iran, left billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art military equipment in Afghanistan for free use by the Taliban, and virtually factored America out of the equation of any global influence. Biden left Trump to contend with a nuclear threshold Iran and a turbulent Middle East that saw America under the declining Biden as nothing more than a joke.
It’s also no secret that Qatar has been buying out American campuses, where pro-Hamas, intimidating protests proliferated, with little to no intervention by the campus administration.
The picture looks grim. But one needs to remember that Trump, not Biden, cracked down on campus antisemitism, which was disguised as “free speech” when it was really a promotion of jihad terror against Israel and Jews.
With many contradictions now presenting itself with Trump, how America intends to re-establish an American influence back in the Middle East and globally is a complicated task to say the least. It will not be an easy or straightforward one. In the meantime, Iran is the greatest imminent danger as the answers to many questions play out with time.
Five months ago, Iran International reported:
Amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, Qatar has aligned itself closer to Tehran. This was evident during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Doha in October 2024. The two countries discussed enhancing cooperation in economy, energy, culture, and education, with a particular focus on resolving the $6 billion in Iranian assets frozen in Qatar. The visit underscored Qatar’s role as a diplomatic mediator, as Pezeshkian met with regional leaders, including Hamas representatives, to address crises in Gaza and Lebanon.
To complicate matters even more, al-Sharaa made a strategic business pitch to Trump on Monday: “A Trump Tower in Damascus,” to “charm” him for sanctions relief, which apparently worked. And that followed a 400-million-dollar jet from Qatar to Trump, which raised eyebrows on both sides of the political spectrum.
So what’s really going on with Trump? It may be fair to present the question: who is really manipulating whom? Other questions: what might be the intended possible outcomes? For instance: could Trump be hoping for a new level of the Abraham Accords to be established as he pursues and accepts friendship from Arab countries? Could he be hoping for greater divisions between Arab countries and Iran as a result of America drawing closer to Arab countries? Whatever the reasons, Trump cares little about optics, but let’s hope he has contemplated the potential price of these new partnerships. He doesn’t seem to have mentioned “humanitarian aid” to Syria, which would involve stuffing the coffers of a jihadist regime that is seeking to expand Sharia dominance in the region.
In another development; this one aimed at “strengthening strategic partnerships for economic prosperity”:
Saudi Arabia, President Donald J. Trump announced Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come.
Trump also “targeted Iran in his first major speech in Saudi Arabia, warning Tehran that it must choose between never having a nuclear weapon or dealing with his wrath.” Trump warned: “If Iran’s leadership rejects the olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure.”
Of course, the cautionary tale of the mujahideen in Afghanistan should be remembered. However, considering Trump’s past policies of protecting American borders from the worst criminals and jihadists, as well as his reinstatement of the travel ban on Muslim-majority countries of concern, it makes little sense to assume without further evidence that he would betray America to the jihadist cause. Let’s hope there is a method (and long-term results) to the madness — as appears to be the case even at this point. In the meantime, expect the inevitable media circus as America continues to emerge from disastrous, nightmarish Democrat rule.
Ben says
The Arabs have bought Trump.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, looks like it. Not just the Arabs: the muslims as well. That explains why he’s prevailed on Israel not to do anything against Turkey, and pressed India for a ceasefire against Pakistan
They say that his approval has been sinking. I’ll suspect that this is why (rather than the tariffs)
WPM says
This a mistake for Trump administration helping a Shira terror lead government economically why do American leaders keep doing the same mistakes .For the last 60 years we have been backing governments in the Middle East that want to undermine our way of life Both under republican presidents and under democratic presidents .Are the jihadist running Syria better because they wear western clothing and bath daily compared to the jihadist running Afghanistan who wear rags and do not have access to clean water.? Qater can shove it too, hiding terrorist and funding them under the table .Let Qater take in the “Moslem “refugees ” that are flooding the western world ,include them in any kind of “peace talks” ,Qater wants to invest money and recourses in the western world, save the western world from many Moslem refugees would save the western world resources better then the money they would invest in the western world .Another reason why America and much of the western world should push for energy in it own first world democratic countries .If Canada and America could get their act together with oil and national gas production ,get nuclear energy plants on line .,hydro-electric plants we could stop bending the knee to these jihadis states
Billy says
Trump is making mistakes for helping Allah’s Islam and its deceitful Muslims against all Non-Muslims as taught in Islam’s Quran(Quran 9:5, 29, 111 and more). Islam is a Terrorist, Criminal Gang Enterprise.
Allah’s Islam, a Terrorist-Criminal Enterprise, and its predatory believers continually fund, promote, and practice ideological subversion, propaganda, bigotry, discrimination, deceit, supremacy, segregation, hatred, violence, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran. Muslim actions should be legally challenged with a multi-faceted force of Western Laws like Muslims wield against Americans and Westerners because Islam violates USA Laws(Quran 9:5,29; 49:15; 60:4 and more).
Like a Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) designated by the USA Secretary of State, Islam functions as a MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION(MTO) fighting against Non-Muslims and NOT A PEACEFUL religion under Western Law because Islam funds, teaches, and promotes Terrorist Criminal Organizations with Muslims as Terrorists for Allah(Quran 9:5,29; 49:15 and more).
Under Islam and Islamic Law, Muslims have the Legal Right and the Quranic Duty to terrorize Non-Muslims because neglecting this QURANIC DUTY is a Crime against tyrannical Allah. Jihad means warfare against Non-Muslims to ESTABLISH ISLAM’S RELIGION(Quran 3:151; 9:5, 29, 111; Muslim Law Manual: “Reliance of the Traveller”, o9.0 and more).
More specifically, Islam, a terroristic-destructive way of life, is a Muslim Terrorist Ideology and Murderous, Criminal Enterprise of intolerance, continuous war, discrimination, segregation, supremacy, genocide, polygamy, propaganda, deceit, hatred, incitement, sedition, rape, terrorism, and violence against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran(Quran 2:208,216; 4:65, 89,95, 115; 5:14,64; 8:12,39,74; 9:5,21,29,36, 41,49, 73,88, 111,123; 21:92; 49:15; 60:4; 61:9-11; 89:14 and more).
SirJeremyTheBald says
I think Trump is making a MASSIVE mistake that will unleash Islam onto the world.
Trump seems not to understand what Islam is and what it is not.
There’s a reason why there’s an “Arab” and “Islamic World”.
What the so-called “Palestinians” did on October 7th was 100% Islam.
Trump should learn history, the Middle East was built by the West and still is. The Arabs, like the Africans, couldn’t build a three story building. It was the West that built their entire growth and the entire Oil Industry that it is based. If you go to any of these countries you will find that each new building was designed and built majority by Western engineers, western workers with third world labor…
Anyway enough from me..
BIG mistake by Trump – unless there’s something that he and his administration is intentionally keeping from us kafir….
JS says
This is so damn wrong and Trump, who many like me thought would save the west, instead has all the US down the drain. They’re probably laughing at how easy it was and Trump has emboldened our enemies throughout the world.
It’s also hard to believe that people can’t see what those gulf countries did by “praising” and kissing the ass of Trump.
Watch how quickly things sink deeper. None of those nations are friends – especially Qatar! Trump is a complete joke!
How little Israel is worth to Trump says
Trump sold out Israel for Saudi investments and a Qatari plane.
ElderlyZionist says
I think Trump is trying to reach some kind of grand settlement in the Middle East that resolves in favor of American interests. I think Trump and Netanyahu are playing good cop/bad cop with Hamas and Syria. Does Al-Sharaa really want peace with Israel? Will he join the Abraham Accords? Will he agree to take the Gaza Arabs who want to escape the desolation of Gaza? Syria has lost a third of their population in their civil war, and could be a congenial home for a million or so Salafi Arabs. I am very cautiously optimistic. As Ms. Douglass-Williams suggests, it’s not yet clear who is manipulating whom.
GE says
I do hope you’re right, sir.
Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions, have me a little nervous and worried.
GE says
I do hope you’re right, sir.
Trump’s recent foreign policy decisions, have me a little nervous and worried.
somehistory says
The ‘leader’ of the mzlums fighting Russia for control of Afghanistan, was obl. He had been a member of the mb, whose leadership encouraged him to form al queda (the core), and after that, he travelled from saudia arabia to afghanistan where he was given weapons and training by the U.S.
obl appreciated that so much, he sent his terror buddies to the U.S. to mass murder thousands.
Who will the al queda ghoul in Syria and the hamas-supporting ghouls in qatar….the gutter of the world….send to the U.S. to show their appreciation for all that Trump is doing?
Lady of the Lake says
This is a wonderful article. Very astute. Nobody can work a room like the donald. It’s all in the art of the deal baby…
gravenimage says
Sadly, I’m not sure that a dal which enables Jihad terror is for the best.
gravenimage says
Qatar mobilizes support for Syrian president as Trump to remove US sanctions on Syria in major policy shift
…………………………………..
Too often Westerners assume that any chang from a bad situation–such as Syria under dictator Assad–must be a change for the better. But in the case of Al-Sharaa, with his links to Tahrir al-Shams, Al Qaeda, and ISIS, and his mass slaughter of Alawites, Christians, and Druze, this is anything but.
Note that Trump referred to Al-Sharaa’s history of Jihad terror as a “very strong past”.
Gurek says
The Westerners support all kind of terrorist dictators from Saudis to Qataris. When it came to Assad, they demonized him with fake news so that their western imperialist and islamist agenda in the Middle east became reality. It is you who have bloody hands, Westerners. Are you justified?
Lorena says
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-praises-young-attractive-president-sharaa-founder-al-qaeda-syria-qatar-visit
There’s not that much money in all of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. I thought Trump was a smart man, but apparently he’s starting to suffer from dementia.Qatar is a major jihadist nest and a natural enemy of Israel. Does Trump have dementia or has he become a traitor? Trump has turned into Kamala Harris and that is why Israel will be destroyed.
Yisrael Neeman says
Trump believes he can control or halt Jihadis with investments and rebuilding Syria (for example). I disagree. Jihadis have a long term theological strategy to conquer the globe in the name is Allah, the Prophet Mohammed and Sharia law. They have patience and will take whatever funding they are given and turn it against the West. Whatever funds they get will eventually be used for a future Jihad.
Syrian Pres. a-Sharaa was an active member of al Qaeda. Don’t trust him.
Qatar funds Antisemitism and terrorism worldwide. Netanyahu fell for allowing Qatari support for Hamas – Result Oct. 7.
Trump’s good friend Erdogan actively supported ISIS until he suffered a few terror attacks in Istanbul.
One does not make deals with Jihadis – You defeat them.