The sanctions were really crippling,” President Trump said, before he traveled to Qatar, where he was given a lavish welcome.

P resident Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, May 13, that he plans to end the U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria, which have been in place for over 45 years. Announcing the news on the first day of his Middle East tour, during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Trump said he would be lifting sanctions “in order to give them [Syria] greatness.”

Qatar, over the years, has played the role of intermediary between the US and Iran and its proxies, including during talks with Tehran-backed Hamas as its 19-month war with Israel grinds on.

Agreements signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Wednesday will "generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion," the White House said in a fact sheet summarizing some of the deals' details.

President Donald Trump is set to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in a face-to-face with the onetime insurgent leader who spent years imprisoned by U.S. forces after being captured in Iraq

President Donald Trump arrived in Qatar on Wednesday, where he was greeted by the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, as he kicked off the second leg of his three-nation Middle East tour this week.

In a statement published on Tuesday evening on its official account on (X) platform, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared, “The State of Qatar welcomes the friendly United States President’s intent to lift sanctions on the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic and considers it a step toward supporting stability in Syria.”