Trump, on a state visit to Riyadh, became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader -- Ahmed Alsharaa, who led the overthrow of Bashar al Assad in December.
The President of Syria’s transitional government and Trump, wearing matching suits, shook hands as they met jointly with Saudi Arabia's leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and, online, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the key supporter of the new government in Damascus.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia had both advocated reconciliation with Syria but the move is the latest to put Trump at odds with Israel, which has voiced pessimism over Alsharaa and ramped up strikes to degrade the longtime adversary's military capabilities.
The White House said that Trump asked the Syrian leader to normalise relations with Israel by joining the so-called Abraham Accords signed by some Gulf Arab states.
Trump also asked Alsharaa to deport Palestinian fighters and for the new Syrian authorities to take control of camps for captured Daesh terrorists, the White House said.
After the longer-than-expected half-hour meeting, Trump said that the Assad-era sanctions had been "really crippling" on Syria.
"It's not going to be easy anyway, so it gives them a good, strong chance, and it was my honour to do so," Trump said, addressing a summit of Gulf Arab leaders.
The United States imposed sweeping restrictions on financial transactions with Syria during the brutal civil war and made clear it would use sanctions to punish anyone involved in reconstruction so long as Assad remained in power without accountability for atrocities.
Trump gave no indication that the United States would remove Syria from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism -- a designation dating back to 1979 over support to Palestinian fighters.
Qatar, alongside Egypt and the United States, hammered out a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that came into effect on January 19 -- the day before Trump's inauguration.
Israel has ended the ceasefire and vowed a new offensive to “finish Hamas”. It has blocked all aid from entering Gaza for more than two months, prompting warnings of impending famine.
