P resident Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, May 13, that he plans to end the U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria, which have been in place for over 45 years. Announcing the news on the first day of his Middle East tour, during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Trump said he would be lifting sanctions “in order to give them [Syria] greatness.”

DAMASCUS, Syria — President Donald Trump’s announcement from Saudi Arabia that his administration intends to lift wide-ranging sanctions on Syria sparked jubilation in the capital, Damascus, as a population long impoverished by the restrictions was finally able to hope for relief.