Trump to remove U.S. sanctions on Syria in major policy shift

"I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness," Trump told an investment forum in Riyadh, at the start of a tour of Gulf Arab states. Alex Zerden, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said Trump's announcement would unwind a "Gordian knot" of sanctions, export controls and terrorist designations that had made Syria one of the most economically restricted countries, along with Iran, North Korea and Cuba. "It was important for us to see relief on sanctions on Syria to help the reconstruction of Syria, to help the Syrian people recover from more than a decade of conflict, a decade of under investment," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.