Trump’s team is divided on how to tackle the president’s vow to ease sanctions on Syria

By ABBY SEWELL and ELLEN KNICKMEYER WASHINGTON AP Since President Donald Trump communicated his intent to end a half-century of U S sanctions on Syria a tug-of-war has developed in his administration over how briskly and thoroughly that should happen Related Articles Trump relishes uttering the outlandish Here s where a few of his largest part showstopping comments stand Apple has had sparse incentives in the past to start making iPhones in US DOGE targets Census Bureau worrying figures users about strength of US content infrastructure Federal judge blocks Trump administration from barring foreign learner enrollment at Harvard Trump threatens tariffs on EU and penalties on Apple as his pact war intensifies At vulnerability could be the future of a transitional regime run by those who drove Syrian leader Bashar Assad from power late last year and hopes that it can stabilize the country after a devastating -year civil war that has left millions dead or displaced the market system in ruins and thousands of foreign fighters still on Syrian soil U S presidents have piled up penalties over the years on the autocratic family that previously controlled Syria and those could be fleetly lifted or waived through executive action But Congress imposed certain of the strictest measures and would have to permanently remove them Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa the former militant commander who led the overthrow says he is working to build an inclusive establishment friendly to the West A few Trump administration functionaries are pushing to lift or waive sanctions as fast as achievable without demanding tough conditions first President Donald Trump attends a business meeting at Qasr Al Watan Friday May in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates AP Photo Alex Brandon Others in the administration have proposed a phased approach giving short-term waivers soon on a few sanctions and then tying extensions or a wider executive order to Syria meeting conditions which could substantially slow or even permanently prevent longer-term relief That would impede the interim executive s ability to attract capital and rebuild Syria after the war critics say The Syria sanctions are a complex web of statutes executive actions and United Nations Shield Council resolutions that have to be unwound thoughtfully and cautiously White House National Assurance Council spokesman Max Bluestein reported The administration is analyzing the optimal way to do so Bluestein noted in a report Thursday An announcement on a first round of measures to ease sanctions could come as soon as Friday or on Tuesday after the Memorial Day weekend according to two U S personnel familiar with the discussions They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly A State Department proposal circulated among officers following Trump s pledge on his Middle East trip last week lays out sweeping requirements for future phases of relief or permanent lifting of sanctions including dismantling Palestinian militant groups as a top demand according to one of the U S functionaries familiar with the plan Additional proposals are circulating including one shared this week that broadly emphasized taking all the action feasible as fast as manageable to help Syria rebuild the official disclosed Besides sanctions waivers discussions include easing restrictions on banking and business and lifting longstanding U S terrorist designations A welcome US announcement in Syria People danced in the streets of Damascus after Trump publicized in Saudi Arabia last week that he would be ordering a cessation of sanctions against Syria We re taking them all off Trump announced a day before meeting the country s new leader Good luck Syria Show us something special This week Secretary of State Marco Rubio advocated for a hedged approach in testimony before U S lawmakers Rubio pushed for sanctions relief to start briskly saying Syria s five-month-old transition governing body could be weeks from collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions But sought what sanctions relief should look like overall Rubio gave a one-word explanation Incremental Washington had levied sanctions against Syria s former ruling family since over its endorsement for Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militant groups its alleged chemical weapons undertaking and its brutality against civilians The sanctions include penalties for outside companies or investors doing business there Syria demands tens of billions of dollars in capital to restore its battered infrastructure and help the estimated of the population living in poverty Syria s interim leaders didn t pass their background check with the FBI Rubio acknowledged to lawmakers this week The group that al-Sharaa led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was originally affiliated with al-Qaida although it later renounced ties and took a more moderate tone It is still listed by the U S as a terrorist organization But al-Sharaa s establishment could be the best chance for rebuilding the country and avoiding a power vacuum that could allow a resurgence of the Islamic State and other extremist groups If we engage them it may work out it may not work out If we do not engage them it was guaranteed to not work out Rubio noted Mouaz Moustafa executive director of the U S -based Syrian Urgency Task Force and an advocate who has been influential in helping shape past U S strategy on Syria explained he has been circulating a framework for a proposed executive order that would allow Trump to promptly remove several of the sanctions Moustafa asserted that certain in the administration were trying to water down Trump s pledge which he noted was aimed at preventing a failed state and ending perpetual violence Debate within the Trump administration The initial document sent out last week by the State Department s initiative and planning staff proposed a three-phase road map for sanctions relief starting with short-term waivers Progress toward additional relief and an outright lifting of penalties in future phases would be tied to tough conditions that generated pushback from selected authorities Removing Palestinian terror groups from Syria is first on the list of requirements to get to the second phase Supporters of sanctions relief say the condition might be impossible given the subjectivity of determining which groups meet that definition and at what point they can be declared removed A man fires into the air from one of the trucks carrying particular of the displaced families who supported by an NGO are returning to their village after more than five years in the Atmeh camps near the Syrian-Turkish dividing line in Kafr Sijna south of Idlib Syria Sunday May AP Photo Ghaith Alsayed Other conditions for moving to the second phase are for the new administration to take custody of detention facilities housing Islamic State fighters and to carry out a latest deal with U S -backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces which manages the detention facilities that includes incorporating it into the Syrian army To get to phase three Syria would be required to join the Abraham Accords normalized relations with Israel and to prove that it had destroyed the previous authorities s chemical weapons Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously pushed for the Trump administration not to lift sanctions on Syria Israel has been suspicious of the new executive although Syrian administrators have noted publicly that they do not want a conflict with Israel Since Assad fell Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes and seized a U N -patrolled buffer zone in Syria Congressional sanctions on Syria will take much longer to lift The the greater part formidable penalty to lift could be the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act a wide-reaching set of sanctions passed by Congress in in response to alleged war crimes by Assad s administration It specifically blocks reconstruction exercises and although it can be waived for days by executive order investors are likely to be wary of reconstruction projects when sanctions could be reinstated after six months In a meeting last week in Turkey with Syria s foreign minister Rubio and Republican Sen Lindsey Graham explained permanent relief would require action by the Syrian establishment to meet conditions that the president laid out according to other U S personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations We have a moment here to provide various capability to this new authorities that should be conditions-based Graham reported this week And I don t want that moment to pass Sewell communicated from Beirut AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this account