The normalization of Ahmed al Sharaa — the former terrorist who became the first Syrian president to be welcomed at the White House — must be stripped of any romanticism. “I don’t think Donald Trump is in love with Sharaa or with Syria. But he’s a skilled businessman; he knows how to defend his own interests and those of the United States. That’s why I believe the meeting between him and the Syrian president was pure America First.” Speaking to Il Foglio is Tarek Naemo, born in 1988, the man who, since Bashar al-Assad fell a year ago, has taken on the task of explaining to the White House and Capitol Hill why it’s worth trusting a former al-Qaeda fighter. He’s said to be the man who proposed building a Trump Tower in Damascus, and the lobbyist who paved the way for the visit three days ago. Naemo is a wealthy businessman working for a Saudi investment fund. Many describe him as a full-fledged influencer, given his 2.2 million Instagram followers. Above all, he boasts friendships with several members of the U.S. Congress. In a conversation with Il Foglio, the young entrepreneur recounts the behind-the-scenes story of Sharaa’s historic visit to the United States and his meeting with Trump. “We all know his past, but the Syrian president has proven to be a strong and reliable leader — and we know how much Trump admires strong leaders. I believe he’s the right man to transform Syria, which now, for the first time in decades, has the chance to experience democracy.” Together with his wife Jasmine, also of Syrian descent and involved in lobbying activities, Naemo forms a “golden couple” for the new authorities in Damascus. In their patient persuasion efforts, they’ve worked in coordination with the Syrian American Alliance for Peace and Prosperity, a Washington-based association led by another influential businesswoman and philanthropist, Alia Natafgi. Beyond organizing meetings with U.S. lawmakers, last April Naemo also accompanied the first American congressional mission to Damascus since the fall of the regime — composed of Republicans Marlin Stutzman and Cory Mills. Later, he led another one, featuring Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Joe Wilson. Naemo is known to be particularly close to Mills, as well as to many other international leaders, from the Turkish ambassador to Syria to Saudi ministers. With the latter, in particular, his ties are so strong that the more cynical describe him as acting on behalf of Riyadh. The day before the summit with Trump, Sharaa held another key meeting — this time with Brian Mast, a Florida congressman and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Mast is among the few still opposing the repeal of the Caesar Act — the U.S. sanctions targeting the Assad regime, currently suspended for six months by the Trump administration. Sharaa wants them lifted permanently, viewing them as a Damoclean sword hanging over Syria’s future as it seeks to reopen to the world and attract foreign investment. Naemo recounts that the meeting with Mast happened by chance: “It was almost midnight, I was with Sharaa in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel when we saw Mast walking by. I approached him and asked if he’d like to sit down with the Syrian president. I’m of Kurdish origin, and he’s very attentive to Kurdish issues — we immediately understood each other. He said yes. I think he was surprised by Sharaa. Until that evening, he had probably heard only one version of the story. Meeting the president, he heard another — and I saw he was genuinely engaged. Then we took a group photo that went viral on social media (the one on this page, with Jasmine, Sharaa, Mast, and Naemo).” According to Naemo, Mast’s approach was open-minded and ready for dialogue: “That’s exactly why I think America is a great country,” he says. In less than a year since arriving in Damascus and liberating it from Assad’s dictatorship, Sharaa has opened Syria to the outside world as never before, meeting dozens of world leaders. “But in these meetings, he has always seemed at ease,” Naemo reveals. “If I had to describe him in a few words, I’d say calm, strong, positive, and above all, prepared. He knew everything about the laws and procedures — it was clear he had studied.” Naemo explains that Washington’s diplomatic circles speak the language of rationality, debating which post-conflict reconstruction models Syria should emulate and which to avoid. “The positive examples are Japan or even Singapore. The negative one, without a doubt, is Iraq. The Trump administration doesn’t want to repeat in Damascus the mistakes made in Baghdad.” But what do Americans think about having a former al-Qaeda member as an official guest at the White House, given that Sharaa’s name was removed from the list of global terrorists only three days before the meeting with Trump? “America needs allies — regardless of what Americans may think,” Naemo replies. “Monday was a historic day. Trump wants peace and stability in the Middle East, and he knows that to achieve them he must give the Syrians a chance. We all know Sharaa’s past — it’s a difficult one — but we have to think about the future. We belong to a new generation, the era of artificial intelligence. The world is changing, and we want to look forward — to move beyond issues like the Israeli question. Syria wants to be an ally of the United States, just as Israel is.”
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