1️⃣ *Donald Trump* became the *first US president in 25 years* to *meet a Syrian leader* after he *offered sanctions relief* in *hopes of offering a new path* to the *war-battered country.* 🇺🇸 🇸🇾 🇸🇦 *Trump,* in *Riyadh* on the *first state visit of his second term,* met on Wednesday with *Ahmed al-Sharaa, an erstwhile Islamist guerrilla* turned interim president after the *December overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad.* The two held *brief talks* ahead of a *larger gathering of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia* during *Trump's tour of the region,* a White House official said. *No US president had met a Syrian leader* since *Bill Clinton saw Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, in Geneva in 2000* in a failed effort to persuade him to *make peace with Israel.* *Trump said* on Tuesday that he was *lifting _"brutal and crippling"_ Assad-era sanctions* on Syria in response to *demands from Sharaa's allies in Turkey* and Saudi Arabia -- in his *latest step out of tune with US ally Israel.*