The United States announced Monday that has formally revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation for Syria’s ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, ironically coming nearly two months after President Trump met with its leader, Syria’s self-declared interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Mohammad al-Jolani).
It’s not just ironic, but scandalous, that Trump met with a US-designated terrorist during this Gulf tour while in Saudi Arabia. If any individual American citizen did the same, they would likely be investigated and prosecuted by the FBI. But Sharaa is the “former” al-Qaeda in Syria man who helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad, and that’s apparently all that Washington cares about.
The newly published State Department memo, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reads as follows: “In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusra Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham.”
The memo is actually dated to June 23, but has gone into effect at the time of publication.
Recall that Trump had gone so far as to praise al-Sharaa as a “young, attractive guy” who has a “real shot at doing a good job”. There was no mention at the time of protecting some of the world’s most ancient churches and Syria’s sizeable Christian community.
The fruit of that ‘good job’ thus far has been a genocidal campaign launched against Alawites near Latakia, as well as attacks on churches, including last month’s suicide bombing of St. Elias Orthodox Church in Damascus, which left at least 25 people – including children – dead. A group affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham actually took responsibility.
Why aren’t Christian leaders in the West more vocal about the plight of Syria’s blood-soaked churches?
“Shouldn’t American Christians care about Syrian Christians, about their brothers in Christ? …where are the Christians in this country when the IDF rolls into an all-Christian town in the West Bank?” — @TuckerCarlson with @scotthortonshow @BradRHoff pic.twitter.com/w6SpdZgLDC
— Christian Malazarte (@ChristianMalaza) July 4, 2025
Not only has Trump dropped sanctions on post-Assad Syria, but is even encouraging historic rapprochement and normalization with Israel:
Since assuming power, Sharaa has admitted that his government is holding “indirect talks” with Israel, and last week, Syrian authorities said they were willing to cooperate with Washington on reimplementing a 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel.
Speaking earlier on Monday, the US special envoy to Syria and Lebanon, Tom Barrack, said “dialogue has started” between the two countries.
Sharaa is likely to face opposition from his base and the broader Syrian population over a possible normalization deal, as Israel continues to wage war on hungry and besieged Palestinians in Gaza.
Sadly, the message from the White House seems to be that Syria should prioritize ending the long-running state of conflict with Israel, but there’s been barely a peep about the massacres being conducted against Syria’s ancient Christian, Alawite, and Druze populations.
While you’re busy chasing the Epstein client list, here’s what you missed:
The Trump administration revoked the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—aka al-Nusra Front, aka Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. pic.twitter.com/x9HIAVyd1i
— Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) July 7, 2025
But this was all about the US-Gulf-Israeli push for regime change, and Jolani is now their #1 terrorist ‘man in Damascus’. Assad and the Syrian Army ultimately lost the proxy war which was waged since 2011, with billions of dollars sunk into the effort from the Gulf and Western alliance.
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