Trump holds surprise meeting with Syria’s new leader, delivers stern warning to Iran

President Donald Trump continued Wednesday pressing for a new era of peace and prosperity in the Middle East, holding a surprise meeting with Syria's interim leader and delivering a stern warning to Iran that its only path to normalization is to abandon both terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something if possible," Trump said while headlining the Gulf Cooperation Council in Saudi Arabia on the second day of his four-day tour through the region.

"But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons " he added.

Trump also predicted there would be more peace deals between Israel and Arab neighbors under the Abraham Accords that were historically started under his first administration. And he implored Lebanon to carve a path away from Hezbollah terrorists and toward prosperity and engagement with the West.

But the biggest surprise of his trip came when he held an unscheduled half-hour meeting with Syria’s Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who just months ago overthrew the dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The meeting was an extraordinary turnabout for a Syrian rebel turned politician, who once pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda but has since denounced ties to that terror group.

Trump's meeting came a day after he announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to give the war-weary country a legitimate chance at peace and stability.