Trump's Syria Reset
From theThe Morning Dispatchon The Dispatch Happy Monday!Almost exactly one year after hewas inadvertently arrestedtrying to enter the tournament, Scottie Scheffler on Sundaywon the PGA Championshipby five strokes. "Got out of jail, turned his life around, and hasn't reoffended," Mike Beauvaisjoked yesterday. "The system works." Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katzsaid Sundaythat "all the indications" show Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, had been killed in Israeli airstrikes last week. Sinwar became the leader of Hamas in Gaza after Israeli soldierskilled his brother, Yahya Sinwar—a key architect of the October 7, 2023, attacks—last fall. Meanwhile, Israeli and Hamas officials resumedceasefire and hostage talksin Qatar on Saturday, hours after Israel launched anew offensivein the Gaza Strip. A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the country's negotiating team is exhausting "every possibility for a deal,"includinga proposal that would secure the release of all remaining hostages and "the exile of Hamas terrorists, and the disarmament of the Gaza Strip." Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan—who campaignedfor president of Romania on a centrist, pro-European Union platform—defeatedhis nationalist rival George Simion on Sunday by a margin of nearly8 percentage pointswith 99 percent of the vote in. Despite initially declaring victory, Simion, who hasdenied accusationsof supporting Russia,later concededthe race in a social media post. On the campaign trail, Danexpressed supportfor Romania's continued membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and aid to its neighboring country of Ukraine. "Russia, don't forget, Romania isn't yours," supporters of Danchantedas they celebrated his victory. Russia on Sunday launched itsbiggest drone attackon Ukraine since the war began, Ukrainian officials said. The barrage, which targeted multiple regions, came one day after the two sides concluded their first in-person negotiations in Turkey and agreed toexchange 1,000prisoners of war. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyheld meetingson Sunday with U.S. officials—including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—and European leaders while in Rome to attend Pope Leo XIV's inaugural Mass. Also on Saturday,Trump sharedon social media that he plans to hold separatephone callson Monday with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for a ceasefire. Former President Joe Biden wasdiagnosedwith an aggressive form ofprostate canceron Friday, his office shared in a statement on Sunday. His diagnosis includes "metastasis to the bone," thestatement said, adding that doctors gave it aGleason score—a grading metric used to evaluate the aggressiveness of prostate cancer—of nine out of 10. Biden and his family are currentlyreviewing treatmentplans, and the office shared that "the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management." President Donald Trumpsaid thathe was "saddened" by Biden's diagnosis and that he and First Lady Melania Trump wish him a "fast and successful recovery." Axioson Saturdaypublished audio recordingsof former special counsel Robert Hur's interview with Biden, which was conducted in 2023 as Hur investigated the then-president's handling of classified documents. During the conversation, thetranscript of whichwas released in March 2024, Biden needed help from his attorneysto recallthe years in which his son died and Trump was first elected president. Hur ultimately declined to charge Biden, concluding that a jury wouldlikely viewhim as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Moody's Rating credit agencyon Friday downgradedthe U.S. government's credit rating to Aa1—one notch below Aaa—citing in apress releasethat "government debt and interest payment ratios to levels that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called Moody's credit rating a "lagging indicator" on NBC News' "Meet the Press"on Sunday, claiming that the change was related to Biden administration-era spending. At the same time, Moody's also changed itseconomic outlookfor the U.S. from "negative" to "stable." The Supreme Court on Friday once againtemporarily blockedthe Trump administration fromdeporting Venezuelannationals—currently detained in northern Texas for alleged gang ties—under the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act (AEA). In the7-2 order, the majority ruled that a federal appeals court must answer "the question of what notice is due" to the detainees before their deportation, and that their removal may not advance until the court rules on that question. In his dissent, which was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the Supreme Court has "no authority" to temporarily block the deportations. Importantly, the Supreme Court didnot ruleon whether Trump could deport detainees under the AEA. The House Judiciary Committeeinformed the pharmaceutical companyPfizer on Thursday that it is investigating an allegation that the companyintentionally delayedsharing the COVID-19 vaccine's trial testing results until five days after the 2020 election. The British-based drugmaker GSK told U.S. federal prosecutors last year that one of its employees—Philip Dormitzer, a former Pfizer scientific researcher—informed fellowGSK employees that senior Pfizer executives had been "involved in a decision to deliberately slow down clinical testing" of the vaccine until after the election. Dormitzer, who no longer works at GSK, has denied making the alleged comments. Meanwhile, a Pfizerspokeswoman saidthe vaccine's development process was "driven by science" and followed FDA protocols, adding, "Theories to the contrary are simply untrue and being manufactured." A Mexicannaval vessel collidedwith New York City's Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday night,killing twoof the ship's crew members—a male Marine and a female cadet—and injuring 22 others aboard. The 277-crew ship, the Cuauhtémoc, was on an international goodwill mission and departing New York for Iceland when itsmasts struckthe bridge and snapped. Local officials say the ship's captainlost controlof the vessel and, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the shiplost power. The Brooklyn Bridge sustained no structural damage in the incident, authorities said. Acar explodedoutside of a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday, injuring four people and killing one—the suspected bomber—in what the FBI has deemed an "intentional act of terrorism." Law enforcement officials said the25-year-old suspect, a Southern California native who was in the car at the time of the explosion, had attempted to livestream the bombing and had a history of expressinganti-natalist viewsonline. No clinic employees were injured in the attack, aclinic physiciansaid, and its IVF lab and embryos were unharmed. Syrian security forcesambushedIslamic State sleeper cells in the northwest city of Aleppo over the weekend, killing three terrorists in surprise attacks on multiple safe houses. The raids, the only public operation of its kind since thefall of the Assad regimeto rebel forces in December, came as the new government in Damascus seeks to convince the international community—and in particular the United States—that it's ready and willing to combat jihadist violence in Syria despite its own extremist origins. Such was the objective of Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa'smeetingwith U.S. President Donald Trump last week—the first direct talks between leaders of the two countries in a quarter-century. Hailing his Syrian counterpart, a former al-Qaeda member, as a "young attractive guy" with a "very strong past," Trump announced an effective reset with the country after decades of frosty diplomatic relations. But ongoing sectarian violence in Syria—and its leader's own militant past—threatens to derail the American president's plans for a country still reeling from 14 years of civil war. "It's their time to shine," Trumpsaid in a speechdelivered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week, unveiling plans to waive longtime U.S. sanctions on Damascus. "Good luck, Syria. Show us something very special, like they've done, frankly, in Saudi Arabia, ok? They're going to show us something special. Very good people." The administration had been considering lifting some of its longtime sanctions on the country, some of the most crippling in the world, for months. But government agencies are now scrambling to implement their wholesale reversal using sanctions waivers, CNNreported Saturday, a move that could transform Syria from a pariah state to a key regional player. The White House's swift reversal of longstanding U.S. Syria policy appeared to come at the behest of America's Sunni allies in the Middle East. Turkey, a key backer of the former rebel groups now in charge in Damascus,welcomedthe move. Leaders of the Gulf Arab states likewise hailed Trump's Syria embrace as a step toward prosperity and stability in the region,showering him with a lengthy round of applausein Riyadh as he announced the pivot. On Friday, the World Bankrevealed thatSyria's outstanding debt of more than $15.5 million had been paid off by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The cleared balance will allow the country to take out new loans and, in theory, begin the reconstruction process following more than a decade of unrest. "We are pleased that the clearance of Syria's arrears will allow the World Bank Group to re-engage with the country and address the development needs of the Syrian people," the bank said ina statement. "After years of conflict, Syria is on a path to recovery and development." More than 90 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line,according tothe United Nations, creating an environment ripe for jihadist violence. But the task of rebuilding now falls to a man with an extremist past; until December, al-Sharaahad a $10 million U.S. bountyon his head. The former militant leader joined al-Qaeda after America's 2003 invasion of Iraq and eventually spent more than five years in various U.S.-run detention centers. After being released and returned to Syria, he went on to found an al-Qaeda offshoot that would eventually become the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—the rebel faction that led the charge against dictator Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sharaa has since made public efforts to moderate. As the HTS and other rebel factions swept Syrian cities in December, he urged his fighters to respect the country's ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds, Alawites, and Christians. Upon becoming the interim president in late January, he called for a unified government that reflects "Syria's diversity in its men, women, and youth." On that, however, the new government has a spotty record. In March, for example, pro-Damascus fighterscarried outa massacre in Alawite communities that left well over 1,000 people—mostly civilians—dead in the span of 72 hours. But working with the country's imperfect leadership to stabilize the country is better than the alternative, someanalystsargue. In addition to enlisting Damascus' help in combating the Islamic State, the Trump administration is also looking to the new government to prevent Iran from regaining a foothold in Syria. Tehran propped up the Assad regime for years,usingSyria as a conduit through which to export regional terrorism. That shared adversary may serve as the basis for greater cooperation between al-Sharaa's government and Israel. During their meeting last week, Trump urged the Syrian leader to normalize ties with the Jewish state. And according toIsraeli media reports, behind-the-scenes talks to expand the Abraham Accords have already begun. But in order to proceed, the two sides will need to overcome some rocky first impressions. "They were jihadists and remain jihadists, even if some of their leaders have donned suits," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'arsaid of Syria's new leadersin March. Israel has conducted regular airstrikes in the country since Assad's ouster, fearing that the former regime's weapons could fall into terrorist hands, and it still runs some10 basesin Syrian territory after pushing into a buffer zone between the two countries in December. The Israeli military has also carried out operations in Syria on behalf of the Druze, aminority religious sectthat in recent weeks has been targeted by pro-government fighters. Clashes between Islamists and Druze in communities near Damascus earlier this month left more than 100 people dead, prompting Druze leaders to request Israel's intervention. Following the attacks, Israeli fighter jets conducted a series of airstrikes aimed at sending what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a "clear message to the Syrian regime" that Israel would not allow "any threat to the Druze community." Now, as the White House looks to al-Sharaa as a potential partner in peace, the specter of ethnic violence looms. "The Druze have tried to be part of the new government and to get their basic civil rights," Muafak Tarif, the head of the Druze community in Israel,said at a conferencethis month. But they instead face "a thousand foreign soldiers who belong to ISIS who are saying the Druze are not part of Syria." Charles Fain Lehman In the 21st century, a whole array of temptations has quietly emerged from the economic shadows. It goes beyond the burrito—products like pot, gambling, and pornography are widely available and widely consumed. The potency of these temptations, moreover, has steadily risen, making them harder and harder to resist. That's a problem, because while temptation goods have gotten better, our ability to control ourselves hasn't. The uncomfortable reality of human variation in self-control has meant a growing share of the population is unable to stop itself from clicking that "buy now, pay later" button. World EventsMay 16, 2025 Jonah Goldberg If it's not a deal he made himself, Donald Trump doesn't want it. ReligionMay 18, 2025 Michael ReneauandBrad Edwards How new systems of meaning-making are making meaning impossible. Society & CultureMay 17, 2025 Joey Hiles Having kids is difficult in ways easy to talk about and great in ways difficult to talk about. Society & CultureMay 17, 2025 Christopher J. Scalia The apex form of the English language has something to teach everyone. PoliticsMay 17, 2025 Frederic J. Frommer How baseball 'reshored' the team that became the Nationals 20 years ago. PolicyMay 19, 2025 Jonathan Ruhe Shoring up American credibility would go a long way. Writing inQuillette, Ellie Avishai, executive director of the Mill Institute,questioned whetherthe recently founded University of Austin (UATX) is betraying its founding purpose of creating a space for free discourse. "On 8 November 2021, the founders of the University of Austin (UATX) announced the launch of their new project—a school where students would receive 'an education rooted in the pursuit of truth,'" she wrote. "On a web page titled,Our Principles, UATX pledges that it will 'renew the mission of the university, and serve as a model for institutions of higher education by safeguarding academic freedom and promoting intellectual pluralism.'" The Mill Institute was "an obvious fit," and it joined UATX as an affiliated institute in 2022. "Even while we were gathering momentum, however, there were concerning indicators," Avishai wrote. "Early in our tenure, the administration grew noncommittal about our advisory role. It seemed to us that while the university appreciated the way we were holding a mirror up to educators at other schools, there was little appetite for examining the culture at UATX itself. … It turned out that what I was observing was symptomatic of the larger ideological tension developing within UATX between two camps—those specifically championing an unabashedly 'anti-woke' conservative agenda, and those (such as myself) prioritising academic freedom more generally." In apiece for theDetroit Free Press, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, explained her recent decision to step down from her role. "I have proudly served five presidents―Republicans and Democrats—to make sure the United States is the strongest, greatest country that the world has ever known. I respect the president's right and responsibility to determine U.S. foreign policy—with proper checks and balances by U.S. Congress. Unfortunately, the policy since the beginning of the Trump administration has been to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia," she wrote. "I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all—it is appeasement. And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering." New York Times: Trump Appointee Pressed Analyst to Redo Intelligence on Venezuelan Gang A top adviser to the director of national intelligence ordered a senior analyst to redo an assessment of the relationship between Venezuela's government and a gang after intelligence findings undercut the White House's justification for deporting migrants, according to officials. Donald Trump Jr.on X: "What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???" CBS News: Trump's DHS Considers Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for Citizenship, Producer Says On October 7, 2023, Yuval Raphael was attending the Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists crossed the border to massacre more than 1,200 Israelis. She miraculously survived that day by playing dead. But she's not just a survivor—she's also an accomplished singer who, this weekend, finished in second place in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, and won the public vote. The 24-year-old musician represented Israel with a ballad called "New Day Will Rise." Do you think the Trump administration's Syrian reset is worth the risks? Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free.
Trump's Syria Reset From theThe Morning Dispatchon The Dispatch Happy Monday!Almost exactly one year after hewas inadvertently arrestedt...
