Trump met Syrian President al-Shara at the White House. Trump presented him perfume and jokingly asked him the number of his wives. The aim of this historic visit is to rebuild Syria and stop US sanctions.
‘ComeHow many wives does Paki have?’ Donald Trump jokingly asked this question to the Syrian President. This conversation took place during the meeting between Trump and Syrian President Al-Shara at the White House. Born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa to a Sunni Muslim family in Syria, he joined al-Qaeda just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq and fought in the Iraqi insurgency for three years. From 2006 to 2011, he was captured and imprisoned by the US military. An interview of Al-Shara was highly controversial, in which he justified the 9/11 attacks of Al-Qaeda.
Trump applied perfume
During this meeting, Trump gifted two bottles of his brand ‘Victory 45-47’ perfume to Al-Shara. Trump also did not forget to spray it on the Syrian President. Trump described his perfume as the best smelling one. After this, saying that the second bottle is for your wife, he laughingly asked the next question, ‘How many wives do you have?’ In response, Al-Shara’a said, ‘Only one’. Trump’s response to this was, ‘I can never believe it in your case.’
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Syria–US relations
The incident occurred at a reception for the Syrian President in Washington DC during his visit to the White House. This is the first time since Syria’s independence that a US President has hosted a Syrian leader at his official residence. The Trump-Al Shara meeting has great diplomatic importance. Al-Sharaa is trying to rebuild Syria and strengthen ties with other countries following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power in December 2024.
The main objective of this visit is to enhance friendship, which includes stopping major sanctions imposed by the US and reopening of diplomatic channels. Although the perfume giving moment may seem like a fun and friendly encounter, it raises many questions about diplomatic style in high-level meetings. The video of the conversation between Trump and Al-Shara is going viral and has started a new debate on formality in international relations.