President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, a day after lifting all sanctions on Syria, marking a major shift in policy.

The last time a meeting between the two countries’ leadership was with former President Bill Clinton in 2000. 

Trump met with al-Sharaa for an informal chat on the sidelines of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where he was set to address leaders as part of his four-day regional tour.

Trump stated at the summit this was a step toward peace and rebuilding relations with Syria’s government.

‘We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government, as you know, beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed Al-Shara and Secretary Rubio’s meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister in Turkey after discussing the situation with Crown Prince Mohammed,’ Trump said at the broader summit.

‘I’m also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start. It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions were really crippling, very powerful,’ he said.

Syrians were seen and heard celebrating the announcement by Trump that he would move to lift sanctions on the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation.

A statement from Syria’s Foreign Ministry called the announcement ‘a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people as we seek to emerge from a long and painful chapter of war.’

Trump says he feels strongly that this new endeavor will give Syria a great chance at a fresh start.

‘I felt very strongly that this would give them a chance,’ said the president. ‘It’s not going to be easy anyway, so it gives them a good, strong chance. And it was my honor to do so, so we will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria, which I think really is going to be a good thing.’

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also scheduled to meet with his Syrian counterpart later in the week.

The House of Representatives’ tax-writing panel took a key step in advancing President Donald Trump’s tax agenda on Wednesday morning, finishing a marathon session that began with lawmakers entering a cavernous and chilly room in the Longworth House Office building just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

The House Ways & Means Committee advanced its portion of Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ one of 11 committees working on the effort that will then be part of one massive piece of legislation.

It happened despite a barrage of protest amendments lobbed by Democratic lawmakers in a bid to slow proceedings down and make Republicans take politically tricky votes.

The Energy & Commerce Committee and the Ways & Means Committee both held meetings through the night to debate and advance key parts of Trump’s bill.

The former’s meeting is expected to go into Wednesday afternoon after beginning Tuesday at 2 p.m. The Ways & Means Committee advanced its portion early on Wednesday morning in a party-line 26 to 19 vote.

The House Agriculture Committee, another critical panel, began working on its portion on Tuesday evening and paused proceedings around midnight. That committee is expected to resume later Wednesday morning.

Democrats on each committee, meanwhile, have prepared a barrage of attacks and accusations against GOP lawmakers looking to gut critical welfare programs. The committee meetings have lasted hours because of left-wing lawmakers offering what seemed at times to be an endless stream of amendments that Republicans routinely shot down.

Sparks flew early at the Energy & Commerce Committee meeting with protesters both inside and outside the room repeatedly attempting to disrupt proceedings – with 26 people arrested by Capitol Police.

Protesters against Medicaid cuts, predominately in wheelchairs, remained outside the budget markup for several hours as representatives inside debated that and other critical facets under the committee’s broad jurisdiction.

Inside the budget markup, Democrats and Republicans sparred along party lines over Medicaid cuts. Democrats repeatedly claimed the Republican budget proposal will cut vital Medicaid services. 

Many Democrats shared how Medicaid services have saved their constituents’ lives and argued that millions of Americans could lose coverage under the current proposal.

Meanwhile, Republicans accused Democrats of lying to the American people about Medicaid cuts – a word Kentucky Republican Rep. Brett Guthrie, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, deterred his colleagues from using. Tensions arose when the word was repeated as Democrats called it a mischaracterization of their testimonies.

Republicans have contended that their bill only seeks to cut waste, fraud, and abuse of the Medicaid system, leaving more of its resources for vulnerable populations that truly need it. 

That committee was tasked with finding $880 billion in spending cuts to offset Trump’s other funding priorities. Guthrie told House Republicans on a call Sunday night that they’d found upwards of $900 billion in cuts.

Democrats have seized on Republican reforms to Medicaid, including heightened work requirements and shifting more costs to certain states, as a political cudgel. 

At one point late in the evening, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made an appearance at the Energy & Commerce panel’s meeting.

‘I just want to mention our Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is here because of his concern about Medicaid. Thank you,’ the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said.

But tensions remain between moderate Republicans and conservatives about the level of cuts the committee is seeking to the former Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) green energy tax subsidies.

Several Democratic amendments were also offered throughout the night to preserve the green energy bill, but all were shot down.

By early Tuesday morning, the Energy & Commerce Committee had advanced portions of its bill, rolling back significant chunks of the IRA and setting standards for telecommunication – including a decade-long moratorium on state-level laws dealing with artificial intelligence (AI).

The meeting at the Ways & Means Committee had relatively little fanfare but was equally contentious as Democrats attempted to offer amendments to preserve Affordable Care Act tax credits, cap tax cuts for the wealthy, and changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.

At one point, Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., got into a heated exchange over SALT, with Suozzi pushing Van Duyne on whether she’d ever been to New York.

Van Duyne earlier called Texas a ‘donor state’ in terms of taxes, arguing, ‘We should not have to pay to make up for the rich folks in New York who are getting raped by their local and state governments.’

Suozzi later pointed out Van Duyne was born and went to college in upstate New York – leading to audible gasps in the room.

Van Duyne said there was ‘a reason’ she left.

‘We’re sorry you left New York, but in some ways it may have worked out better for all of us,’ Suozzi said.

The SALT deduction cap, however, is still a politically tricky issue even as House lawmakers debate what Republicans hoped would be the final bill.

The legislation would raise the $10,000 SALT deduction cap to $30,000 for most single and married tax filers – a figure that Republicans in higher cost-of-living areas said was not enough.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., threatened to vote against the final bill if the new cap remains.

As the committee’s marathon meeting continued, a group of blue state Republicans huddled with House GOP leaders to find a compromise on a way forward.

Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., hinted at tensions in the meeting when he posted on X that Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a member of the SALT Caucus and Ways & Means Committee, ‘wasn’t involved in today’s meeting’ because her district required ‘something different than mine and the other most SALTY five.’

Malliotakis previously told Fox News Digital she was supportive of the $30,000 cap. She’s also the only member of the SALT Caucus on the critical tax-writing panel.

As morning rose on House lawmakers, Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., quipped at the tax meeting, ‘I see the light coming in from the East…I think it’s going to be a Disney day.’

The Agriculture Committee, which began its meeting on Tuesday evening, saw Democrats waste no time in accusing Republicans of trying to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), colloquially known as food stamps.

Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., accused Republicans of worrying that ‘somebody is getting a meal they didn’t deserve or kids are getting too fat’ instead of more critical issues.

Republicans, like Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, touted the bill’s inclusion of crop insurance for young farmers, increasing opportunity for export markets, and helping invest in national animal disaster centers aimed at preventing and mitigating livestock illness.

He also said Republicans were working to ‘secure’ SNAP from waste and abuse.

House and Senate Republicans are working on Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to sideline the minority by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage to a simple majority, provided the legislation at hand deals with spending, taxes or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver for a sweeping bill on his tax, border, immigration, energy and defense priorities.

Two sources familiar with the plan said the House Budget Committee intends to advance the full bill, the first step to getting the legislation to a House-wide vote, on Friday.

Wednesday will be a critical day to see if that timeline holds. Eleven different House committees, seven of which have already finished their work, must each pass portions of the legislation before they’re all fitted into a massive bill that must pass the House and Senate before getting to Trump’s desk.

As President Donald Trump crisscrosses the Arab world this week, there is talk of peace in the Middle East, shockingly with the Hamas terrorist group still in the picture. 

However, as a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and the co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, challenging Islamist extremism, I know there is only one path to victory in the Middle East: The complete and unconditional surrender by Hamas and the Palestinian people.

The strong-man approach that Trump has taken with China on trade is very similar to the ground game he must realize in the Middle East for the defeat of Hamas. In 2016, he dared to imagine a new reality to the endless wars between Israel and Arab nations and their proxies. Few thought there could be a lasting, genuine peace agreement between Israel and its enemy neighbors, but Trump put a lie to that expectation with the establishment of the Abraham Accords in 2019, building peace between Israel and four historical enemies, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan and Bahrain.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched the most brutal and savage war of rape, killing and enslavement of Jews since the Holocaust.

Hamas proclaimed, celebrated and videotaped their brutality. Hamas’ genocidal hate for Jews and Israel runs deep. Hamas practices a theo-political interpretation of my faith known as ‘Islamism,’ or political Islam, believing in a theocratic state. It is a cult that hates individual liberties and free enterprise, spawned from the Muslim Brotherhood, born in Egypt in the 1920s and similar to the ideology of Ayatollah Khomeini, who led the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Islamism has deeply infected the practice of Muslims around the world. 

Meanwhile, Arab nations and Palestinian terrorist groups have waged war against Israel repeatedly –  and lost – in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, on and on and now 2023 through 2025 through the Islamists that are Hamas.

Why does this cycle of war keep happening?

One simple reason: the international community has never compelled the Palestinians to acknowledge defeat. Today, Hamas has become a death cult, repackaged as a victim-cult where its leaders funnel money poured into them to create infernal tunnels of weaponry, terrorists and hate.

Muslims around the world and guilt-filled westerners have failed to understand that the key element to redemption is surrender. Allied forces had to force Germany and Japan into unconditional surrender before the two nations made the painful step toward modernity after World War II. 

But, despite defeat after defeat, Palestinians have never had to surrender their death cults and successfully enter the modern world.

To this, some of my Muslim brethren may say, ‘Surrender to the Jews? Never!’ 

But they would not be surrendering to the Jews. They would be surrendering the inhumanity and abject failure of Islamist ideology and their fantasy that they will destroy Israel.

History has shown that unconditional surrender would allow the silent majority to find renewal in a post-Hamas, post-Islamist, post-tribal Gaza. Endless wars only end when the defeated are not left at the brink of defeat to rearm again. That is tough love.

The Palestinian establishment has brainwashed its citizenry. Nazi Germany did the same thing. When Nazi German forces were forced to accept defeat and surrender, Germans found freedom on the other side. 

That is the type of moral fearlessness needed today. The Hamas Charter is a theo-political screed of Jew-hatred that must be torn up. It’s the Palestinian Mein Kampf. Like the billionaire leaders of Hamas, it perverts and destroys any hope for generations to come.

I believe in my faith of Islam, not the Islamist ideology. Over a millennium ago, Islam had produced the Elon Musks of its age. Islamic nations were the leaders in math, science, philosophy and civilization. 

In fact, the only nation-state even mentioned by God in the  Qur’an is Israel! Its mention is an endorsement that even Islamists can’t ignore.

So, the historic new alliance between Arab countries must not just be about gleaming skyscrapers. It must be about transformation, or it could end up like the ideologically doomed country of Qatar. 

Qatar is an externally modern city-state on the gulf, in the desert. Yet, its state-sponsored media, the horrifically popular Al-Jazeera TV, radicalizes all. It’s one vast communicator of hate against the West, Israel and the Jews. 

Al Jazeera English and Arabic is the primary cancer cell spreading the Islamist supremacist worldview of Muslim Brotherhood terror groups. It’s not a coincidence the Qataris have the leaders of the Taliban, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas on speed dial when it comes time for ‘negotiations.’ 

Qatar’s trillions fund a blanket of Islamist hate across the world.

The internet has changed life and it has changed Islam, revealing a medieval climate of grievance and tribalism. The Arab Awakening of 2011 reminded the Arab people that they are stronger than their rulers, and they can expose the bullies of the ‘Islamist establishment.’

A poll of Muslims in the United Kingdom revealed that 81% of respondents said they were ‘Muslim first’ and ‘British second.’

Another global poll showed that the majority of Arab Muslims support the death penalty for ‘apostates’ of Islam, with up to 80% in Egypt and Jordan and a plurality across the world. That is today’s normative interpretation of Islamic law, or shar’iah. It is the ideology of a death cult. This all must change.

I recently argued at Oxford Union debate that the ‘brand’ of Islam of today is not compatible with democracy, liberty, or freedom. But the Islam of the 21st century could be, if we end the ‘bigotry of low expectations’ and stop handing Muslims participation trophies for just showing up to negotiations, interfaith dinners and business deals. Muslims have excelled before in a pluralistic society, and we can excel again. But, as we argue through  the Muslim Reform Movement and the Clarity Coalition, another group I cofounded to challenge Islamists, we must give up our hate and embrace modernity.

That means recognizing the state of Israel. And unconditionally surrendering with an end to all hostilities and war against Israel. The delusion of a Palestine that replaces the state of Israel must die.

History has shown that unconditional surrender would allow the silent majority to find renewal in a post-Hamas, post-Islamist, post-tribal Gaza. Endless wars only end when the defeated are not left at the brink of defeat to rearm again. That is tough love.

Recent anti-Hamas protests in Gaza may signal an opening in Hamas’ hold on Palestinians. Securing their surrender may finally turn their consciousness away from endless wars toward enlightenment and bring Islam into the 21st century.

As the Trump administration speeds past the 100-day mark, various conflicts around the globe are in a much different place than when the president took office. 

It has been nearly 600 days since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Not only did the act of terrorism launch a full-scale war in the Middle East, but it also facilitated a chaotic wave of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli clashes at home. 

‘We’re guided by two principles that are guiding our approach to this conflict. The first is that we stand with Israel and Israel’s right to defend itself. And the second is that Hamas must release the hostages,’ U.S. Department of State Deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Fox News Digital. ‘Those are the two guiding principles. And then we’re looking at the long-term here in terms of what this is going to look like as a long-term solution to this conflict. Hamas cannot continue to exist.’

A New York Times opinion article ran last week, titled ‘This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally,’ just days before nearly 80 students were arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University in New York, illustrating that the strains between the two groups remain and the rise in antisemitism is still rampant. 

‘When it comes to some of these protests, and I use that word even somewhat lightly in terms of I don’t even know if that’s the best way to describe them, the secretary has been clear, the president has been clear, there’s going to be zero tolerance for people that are here on visas that break our laws, that support or promote terrorism in the United States,’ Pigott added.

‘When you’re looking at that visa process, again, speaking from the State Department’s perspective, there’s a vetting process to enter the United States for a visa,’ Pigott explained. ‘We’re constantly monitoring the fact of, are you actually abiding by that visa? Are you [a student] doing things that are breaking our laws? And if you do, your visa may be revoked.’

Overseas, Hamas freed the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, reportedly to appease President Donald Trump. 

Israel issued an evacuation warning for Yemeni ports after bombing the nation’s main airport last week. 

While the U.S. and the Houthis reached ceasefire agreements, Israel continues to punch back. Pigott made clear that the U.S.’ past and future decisions to attack the Houthis are heavily dependent on Islamist organizations’ actions.

‘The president’s been clear, the secretary has been clear that the bombing that we saw was about freedom of navigation, protecting American interests, making sure we can have ships going through that area,’ Pigott explained. ‘The Houthis have capitulated, but this is about their actions.’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s role as head of the agency got even more complicated after Mike Waltz left the National Security Administration (NSA) to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, and Trump assigned Rubio to fill the role. 

Despite the increase in workload and responsibility, the State Department’s deputy spokesperson says ‘the results speak for themselves.’ 

‘Of that collaboration, of the fact that President Trump has that vision, is involved with the policy, is saying, we need to accomplish this, and Secretary Rubio helping to implement that vision,’ Pigott added.

‘These are men and women that are dedicated on delivering results for the American people. I mean, this past 100-plus days have been the most successful 100 days, I would argue, in history from a president.’

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

The deepening U.S. relationship with Qatar is drawing fresh scrutiny this week as President Donald Trump began a Middle East tour amid reports that he may accept a free jet from the Qatari royal family to replace his current plane as Air Force One.

The prospect has drawn bipartisan pushback, which Trump has met with indifference. 

‘Qatar is not, in my opinion, a great ally. I mean, they support Hamas. So what I’m worried about is the safety of the president,’ Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told reporters on Tuesday.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Fox News, ‘I think it’s not worth the appearance of impropriety.’

‘[The Qataris] said to me, ‘we would like to, in effect, we would like to make a gift. You’ve done so many things. and we’d like to make you a gift to the Defense Department,’ which is where it’s going. and I said, ‘Well, that’s nice.’ Now, some people say, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t accept gifts for the country.’ My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept the gift? We’re giving to everybody else, why wouldn’t I accept a gift?’ Trump explained to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesdsay. 

U.S. relations with Doha have come a long way since 2017, when Trump accused Qatar of harboring terrorism: ‘The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,’ Trump said at the time. 

From there, Qatar became a major non-NATO ally to the U.S. in 2022 under President Biden and is home to Al Udeid Air Base, one of the U.S.’ largest Middle East bases and a key hub for U.S. Central Command operations. 

Qatar has been at the forefront of peace and hostage negotiations, especially in the war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli delegation traveled to Doha on Tuesday to hash out a potential agreement on a hostage exchange and ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

‘Qatar is an indispensable security and energy partner to the United States. It’s a strategic partnership that has grown stronger and more expansive over time,’ Ali Al-Ansari, media attaché at the Qatari embassy, told Fox News Digital. ‘His highness the Amir and President Trump have a longstanding relationship over many years, and both leaders have the shared goals of peace, security and stability.’

‘Qatar is working closely with the president and his team to advance these shared goals, whether in Gaza, Ukraine, Congo or other areas of instability.’ 

In March, weeks of negotiations led by U.S. and Qatari mediators led to the release of American George Glezmann, who had been imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan for more than two years. Doha’s negotiators were also involved in the U.S.-Hamas deal to release the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, on Monday. 

‘They’re very smart at making themselves useful,’ said Michael Makovsky, CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

The Trump Organization has cinched a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country’s sovereign wealth fund.

‘Their financial connections to people in Trump’s orbit, their making themselves useful as our mediators, communicating that strategically, the Qataris have been very effective at making themselves important,’ Makovsky added. 

And despite its relatively small population – less than 3 million – Qatar controls over 10% of the world’s natural gas reserves. 

‘They have an enormous amount of influence as a result of the money they spend,’ said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  

Energy Secretary Chris Wright praised Qatar as a ‘valued energy partner’ – the second-largest producer of liquid natural gas in the world. ‘I look forward to building on this new era of U.S.-Qatari relations together,’ he said. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has praised Qatar as a valued partner in negotiations.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kans., joined Trump officials in defending Qatar during a Senate hearing on campus antisemitism recently. 

As a witness described links between the Qataris donating billions to universities and antisemitic protests, Marshall shot back: ‘Qatar has been a great ally to America. So I don’t know why you’re attacking them.’

But others are skeptical.

‘The Qataris have been sponsoring a wide range of terror groups for decades,’ said Schanzer. ‘It’s been a bipartisan decision to turn a blind eye to the problem.’

Israel supporters have long accused Qatar of funding Hamas. Prior to the outbreak of war after Oct. 7, 2023, Doha for years sent millions of dollars per month to the Gaza Strip to prop up Hamas’ governing structure there.

They’ve also spent billions in the U.S., including an aggressive lobbying operation in Washington.

‘We have seen them invest billions of dollars into higher education. We know that they’re investing in K-12 education in this country,’ said Schanzer. ‘They’re buying up parcels of valuable real estate. They are … spending massive amounts of money in states like Texas and South Carolina, where you have the defense industry and the energy industry.’ 

‘Over the last two decades or so they have spent a lot of money, expended a lot of effort, and it’s now paying dividends.’

Schanzer said he was pleased the discussion over the Boeing plane had spurred a national conversation over Qatar’s influence in the U.S.

‘This is a longstanding problem that has gone unaddressed by Barack Obama, by Joe Biden, by George W. Bush and by Trump.’