From Nixon to Trump: The Long Road of U.S.–Syria Presidential Diplomacy

For more than half a century, meetings between American and Syrian presidents have been rare but pivotal markers of shifting Middle Eastern politics.

It began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Damascus, seeking stability after the Yom Kippur War.

President George H. W. Bush followed in 1990, meeting President Hafez al-Assad to secure Syrian participation in the coalition against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

President Bill Clinton’s encounter with Assad in 1994 centered on advancing peace between Syria and Israel but ended without a treaty.

Decades of diplomatic silence followed, marked by sanctions, war, and isolation. Then, in May 2025, President Donald Trump met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh—the first direct contact between the two nations in 25 years.

Now, a second meeting is confirmed for November 10, 2025, at the White House. Officials say it will focus on counter-terrorism, sanctions relief, and potential reconstruction cooperation, signaling the most serious thaw in U.S.–Syria relations since the 1990s.