US President Donald Trump said he had installed Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara in office. Asked about the US response to the way Kurds are being treated in Syria, Mr Trump said: “The President of Syria, who I essentially put there, is doing a phenomenal job. He's a rough guy, not a choirboy, a choirboy couldn't do it – but Syria's coming together and coming together well.”

Mr Trump had repeatedly praised Mr Al Shara, calling him “handsome”, a “very strong leader” and saying that he has a “strong past”. Mr Al Shara was once the leader of a former Al Qaeda affiliated group called Hayat Tahrir Al Sham which toppled dictator Bashar Al Assad in a lightning offensive in December 2024.