President Trump met Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, three weeks ago. No one should underestimate the seismic importance of that meeting. No US President had met a Syrian leader in 25 years. Not only that, 13 years ago al-Sharaa established al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria.

Given that the USA launched the ‘war on terror’ in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks carried out by al-Qaeda – and in 2005 al-Sharaa was imprisoned after fighting against US forces in Iraq – this was a seismic shift in US foreign policy. But what does this mean for Syria’s Christians?

The positive aspects

Well, the first is the positive news – President Trump promised to lift sanctions on Syria, which potentially will allow physical rebuilding and reconstruction to take place in a country devastated by 14 years of civil war. There is actually a limit to how much Trump can do this on his own, as most of the sanctions can only be lifted with congressional approval, but there are some which Trump can lift by executive order.

Restoring basic infrastructure, such as clean water and sewage treatment will have a huge impact on public health, as will returning a lost generation to school. However, as the Lindisfarne Centre reported in March – less than a fortnight after seizing power, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham  (HTS) announced plans to islamise the school curriculum – part of which was to give school children a somewhat prejudicial view of Christians. But for ordinary Syrians, the physical rebuilding brings the prospect of daily life becoming easier.

So, did President Trump’s meeting improve life for Syrian Christians?

For all the potential of economic improvements, ideologically it seems little has changed for how the ruling HTS group view Christians. But critically, Western audiences – including presumably President Trump – are being told something different.

HTS (then called the al-Nusra front) took over control of Idlib province in north-west Syria in 2016, after being bussed out of Aleppo following the “peace” deal to end the siege there. HTS then became the effective government of the Idlib region. HTS created shari’a courts and supressed any dissent or criticism of its rule, while at the same time allegedly using backchannels to send U.S. officials the message: “We want to be your friend. We’re not terrorists. We’re just fighting Assad...We’re not a threat to you.”

In 2020, HTS began a media campaign to attempt to portray themselves to the west as a “government”, and not a ”terrorist” organisation – which it is officially designated by Australia, the USA and the UK.

Having originally shuttered all the churches in Idlib, suddenly in 2022, they announced that they were allowing a church to re-open in a village in Idlib Province. But with western eyes watching, a Christian place of worship was noisily reopened. Christians were not the only religious minority targeted in Idlib by the organisation that now governs Syria; Druze living in Idlib were forced to convert to Sunni Islam. Al-Sharaa insists publicly to western audiences that the new Syria will be one for followers of religions, but is that true?

 A fortnight after meeting Trump, al-Sharaa spoke at an event in Aleppo, which has historically had one of the largest Christian populations in Syria.  The official Telegram channel of Syria's presidency described the event as

"embodying the victory of the Syrian revolution and honouring the heroic fighters who contributed to the liberation of the city of Aleppo,"

Al-Sharaa was handing out awards including to members of HTS’ elite Salafist Red Headbands commandos, previously quoted by one chief HTS religious official as the “true embodiment” of a Qur’anic verse which speaks of waging jihad and expressing “hatred and disavowal of unbelievers”. 

So, what we are seeing – is what has over the last decade or so become a strategic tactic for jihadist groups – trying to appear moderate to the west and giving a very different message to their own supporters.

So, where does this leave Middle Eastern Christians?

First, there is a sign of hope – at least in the short term, as al-Sharaa has shown himself sensitive to western media coverage – and as the opening of a church in Idlib province three years ago demonstrated, he understands the west is concerned about Syrian Christians. The question is therefore whether the US and other western governments can capitalise on this?

Secondly though, as the UK foreign affairs think tank Chatham House observed, President Trump’s meeting with al-Sharaa shifts the balance of power in the Middle East. The governments of countries in the Middle East with large Christian minorities, such as Jordan and Egypt – as well as Isreal, see Islamists as their main threat. Those governments have just been massively undermined by the US President meeting the leader of a jihadist group – which has just succeeded where a decade ago Islamic State failed, by toppling Syria’s government and seizing power.

Please pray for Christians in Syria and the Middle East