'How Many Wives?' Trump Asks Syrian President At White House Meet

Last Updated:November 13, 2025, 00:05 IST

Trump gifted perfume to Syrian President al-Sharaa at the White House, joking about wives. Al-Sharaa, ex-al-Qaeda commander, discussed rebuilding Syria and US suspended sanctions.

US President Donald Trump gifts a bottle of perfume to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during the recent meet at the White House. (RT/X)

A video has gone viral of US President Donald Trump presenting a bottle of perfume to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House and playfully asking him the number of wives.

Trump on Monday met his Syrian counterpart, marking the first visit by a Syrian leader to Washington since the country’s independence in 1946.

While spraying a dab of scent in al-Sharaa’s direction, on Monday, Trump said: “It’s the best fragrance. And the other one is for your wife." “How many wives?" Al-Sharaa, momentarily taken aback, responded “one," prompting a ripple of laughter from Trump and other officials at the White House. Trump then quipped back, “You never know!"

The 43-year-old was a former al-Qaeda commander who overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad last December. He was the former head of Syria’s al-Nusra Front, who once had a $10 million bounty on his head for orchestrating multiple attacks across Syria.

The meeting came as the US Treasury Department announced a six-month suspension of sanctions on Damascus, signalling a dramatic shift in relations between the two nations.

Following the talks, Trump praised the new Syrian leader. “He comes from a very tough place, and he’s a tough guy. I like him," Trump told reporters. “We’ll do everything we can to make Syria successful… We have peace now in the Middle East – the first time anyone can remember that ever happening."

Addressing al-Sharaa’s militant past, Trump said, “We’ve all had rough pasts," while al-Sharaa later told Fox News that his former ties to al-Qaeda were “a matter of the past" and were not discussed during the meeting.

During his US visit, al-Sharaa also met Congressman Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who described their discussion as “long and serious" about rebuilding Syria free from extremism.

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