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Wednesday, July 8, 2026
‘I think we should’: Trump says he’ll remove Syria from US state terror sponsor list
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump says he will remove Syria from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Trump is asked the question during a bilateral meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Ankara.
“Any problems with that?” Trump asks US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as if he hadn’t thought about the matter until then.
“I think we should. Yeah, I will,” Trump adds.
Trump is asked whether he still wants Syria to help fight Hezbollah — an idea that received an overwhelmingly chilly reception across the board. The president brought up the idea amid frustration with what he felt had been Israel’s indiscriminate attacks in Lebanon against Hezbollah.
The US president appears cooler about the idea, saying Syria “could help.”
“We’ll find out. I think we’re making a lot of progress,” Trump adds.
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