Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa explains how his country is a 'geopolitical ally' with the U.S., addresses his past connections to al-Qaeda and more on 'Special Report.' #fox #media #breakingnews #us #usa #new #news #breaking #foxnews #specialreport #syria #syrianpresident #ahmedalsharaa #alqaeda #terrorism #middleeast #foreignpolicy #international #geopolitics #usrelations #diplomacy #government #politics #political #politicalnews #security #war #global #worldnews
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Questions asked in this interview
7
0:26I think most importantly for Americans: are the U.S. and Syria now allies?
1:23Did you commit to having the country join the coalition to fight ISIS in the Middle East?
2:07What has changed in the U.S.-Syria relationship, and what has changed about you in that time?
2:49Has President Trump raised with you, discussed with you, your own past affiliation with al-Qaeda terrorism?
3:32President, have regrets that al-Qaeda carried out those attacks that killed 3,000 Americans?
As we told you earlier, President Trump held an historic meeting today with Syria's President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, a former leader of an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group. Now he is being treated as an ally. Tonight we have an exclusive interview with the leader. Gillian Turner spoke with him after the meeting.
You were just welcomed by President Trump, the leader of the free world, in the Oval Office. It's pretty much the highest honor anybody can receive in the United States. How did that meeting go? What commitments did you make to the president? I think most importantly for Americans: are the U.S. and Syria now allies?
In the last 60 years, Syria was isolated from the rest of the world, and there was a cut-off between the United States and Syria. This is the first time a Syrian president visits the White House in the last century. After the fall of the former regime, Syria has entered into a new era. This is built on a new strategy with the United States, especially with the United States.
We fought battles against ISIS. We have suffered a lot during these battles. I have lost much of my forces in the battalions against ISIS. There are reasons for the presence of the United States militarily in Syria. We need to be in coordination and in agreement with ISIS.
You were designated by the U.S. government a foreign terrorist. You were actually on the wanted list. Times have changed. Now you are playing basketball with military heroes in Washington. Now you are meeting with President Trump. What has changed in the U.S.-Syria relationship, and what has changed about you in that time?
We talked about the future, the president and I. So we talked about lifting the sanctions, the Security Council lifting the sanctions on myself and other people as well.
I think this is a matter of the past now. We did not discuss this. We talked about the present and the future. We talked about the investment opportunities in the future in Syria. Syria is no longer looked at as a security threat. It is now looked at as a geopolitical ally and a place where the U.S. can have great investment.
9 more exchanges in this transcript
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al-Sharaa, A. (2025, November 11). Syrian president addresses his past connections to al-Qaeda, relations with US [Interview transcript]. Fox News. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958403/
MLA
Ahmed al-Sharaa. "Syrian president addresses his past connections to al-Qaeda, relations with US." Fox News, 11 Nov. 2025. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958403/.
BibTeX
@misc{alsharaa2025_2958403,
author = {Ahmed al-Sharaa},
title = {Syrian president addresses his past connections to al-Qaeda, relations with US},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Fox News. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2025},
month = {nov},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2958403/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
