Much of the world was caught off guard when amid an avalanche of multiple US-Gulf deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars each being signed Wednesday, President Trump not only announced that he is lifting all sanctions on Syria, but even met in-person with US-designated terrorist and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (Jolani) in the Saudi capital.
Apparently even the State Department and US Treasury departments were caught off guard. Trump's move to lift sanctions on Syria "took many by surprise," including his own officials at State and Treasury, according to Reuters.
"In Washington, senior officials at the State Department and Treasury Department scrambled to understand how to cancel the sanctions, many of which have been in place for decades … The White House had issued no memorandum or directive to State or Treasury sanctions officials to prepare for the unwinding and didn’t alert them that the president’s announcement was imminent," several senior US officials anonymously told publication.
"Officials were confused about exactly how the administration would unwind the layers of sanctions, which ones were being eased and when the White House wanted to begin the process," they added while emphasizing that top officials were "caught off guard."
"Everyone is trying to figure out how to implement it," Reuters cited the officials as saying. Legally and procedurally, the removal of the sanctions will be a process which could take weeks or even months.
Meanwhile there are reports saying the Syrian Pound (SYP) jumped 30% quickly upon Trump's announcement. The local currency has experienced runaway inflation, and people have to lug huge bricks of cash around to purchase simple items like eggs or medicines.
Syrians have further endured rolling blackouts and lack of resources, or even fuel, for years amid the US-sanctions regimen which was geared toward regime change. But now...
The streets of Syria were a carnival of car horns, fireworks and flags after President Donald Trump made the surprise announcement that the United States would lift sanctions that have throttled the country’s economy for more than 45 years.
Trump stunned even close observers on Tuesday by saying he wants to normalize relations after Syria’s longtime president, Bashar al Assad, was toppled in December. Trump met Wednesday with Assad’s successor, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former leader of an al-Qaeda offshoot group, in Saudi Arabia after urging him late Tuesday to “show us something special.”
Trump said he wanted to give Syrians a 'fresh start' - and indeed this could be the start of an economic turnaround after years of brutal proxy war.
With Assad having been overthrown, the Saudis and Qataris are also stepping in to cover national debt and prop up public sector salaries.
Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs: "With the fall of the Assad regime last year, U.S. posture should change and shouldn’t continue to punish the Syrian people."
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) May 15, 2025
A clear articulation of the US posture in Syria up until last year: to bring about the fall of the Assad regime, the US… pic.twitter.com/lllUpwIZbF
Ultimately, Washington and the Gulf monarchies got their desired regime change in Syria. It was never about "democracy" or the Syrian people at all. The brutality of the sanctions, which compounded the common mysery, proves that - as some US officials are now openly admitting.
But this sick policy of the Washington blob is nothing really new...
