Trump calls Syrian President ‘attractive, tough’. He was once was a designated US terrorist and had ties with Al Qaeda

In a stunning move, US President Donald Trump met with Syria’s newly installed president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, calling him a “young, attractive guy with a very strong past” and declaring that “he’s got a real shot at holding it together.” The Syrian leader previously had connections to al-Qaeda and had joined rebels fighting US forces in Iraq. For several years, US troops had even held him captive.