New Syrian president told lawmakers he wants to move his country away from Iran, China and Russia

One of the few U.S. members of Congress to meet with Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, says the former terrorist wants to pivot his country away from China, Iran and Russia and closer to the U.S. amid signs of President Donald Trump's growing popularity among the war-weary Syrian people.

"There's actually signs around Damascus to say, 'Make Syria Great Again.' So they're big fans of President Trump," Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told the Just the News, No Noise television show. "I think this new president...I told him, 'the opportunity you have is incredible.' The Syrian people are remarkable."

Trump met with al-Sharaa this week in a sign that Syria is growing closer to the United States after years of ostracization over concerns about its human rights, terrorism and Iranian ties. The American president lifted sanctions against Syria as well.

Earlier, Stutzman and Florida GOP Rep. Cory Mills met for an hour during the Easter vacation with al-Sharaa in Damascus, walking away impressed that the former al-Qaeda member turned politician is moving Syria in a positive direction.

"I was impressed with the people that he's picking around him, the things that he's saying and the actions that he's been taking are showing that he seems to be wanting to move in a direction towards the West," Stutzman explained.

Stutzman said al-Sharaa told him he had refused an offer from Russia and doesn't have any interest in doing business with China. 

"They want to do business with the West," Stutzman said. "If they can move and stop any sort of jihad training [or] any sort of that jihadi mentality in the Middle East, there is a real opportunity for peace and prosperity there."

Trump told reporters that al-Sharra was a "tough guy" who had the opportunity to bring stability to Syria.

In December of last year, Islamist rebels stormed the Syrian capital of Damascus, resulting in dictator Bashar al-Assad fleeing the country. Al-Sharaa soon took over as president after Assad was ousted.

Stutzman said that regarding al-Sharaa's relationship with Iran, he was open to letting the country have an embassy, but its visas would be limited.

"He actually was very much to the point on Iran, especially," Stutzman said. "He said that he was open to letting Iran have an embassy, but he would limit their visas and the amount of traffic coming from Iran, and he didn't want to let them basically congregate in a certain part of the country."

While meeting with al-Sharaa, Trump delivered a stern warning to Iran that its only path to normalization is to abandon both terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons.