Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday pushed back on U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Damascus could take over the handling of Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying the remarks had been interpreted too broadly and did not mean Syria was preparing to invade.
Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Israel’s handling of Hezbollah in Lebanon and said he was considering giving Syria a role in “dealing with” the Iranian-backed organization.
Al-Sharaa said Trump had voiced concern about the situation in Lebanon and wanted to stop the war there. He said the U.S. president had spoken about Syria’s role in finding a secure solution, but stressed that the statement had been misunderstood.
“The statement was interpreted incorrectly, as if Syria is going to invade Lebanon tomorrow morning,” al-Sharaa said.
The Syrian president said his country was deeply concerned about Lebanon’s security and stability because they are tied to Syria’s own security and stability.
“The polarization inside Lebanon has narrowed the options for reaching solutions,” he said. “Any country in the world that has military forces outside its control is a country that cannot build and develop. We extend our hand every day to the Lebanese to help them find a solution.”
Al-Sharaa said Syria has a serious problem with Hezbollah, but does not want Lebanon as a whole to pay the price.
“We have a deep problem with Hezbollah, but we do not want all of Lebanon to die,” he said. “The country cannot remain trapped between the options of civil war and war with Israel. The Shiites in Lebanon need calm, not more fear and confrontation.”
Trump first raised the idea five days ago at the G7 summit, when he was asked whether the agreement with Iran could survive if Israel attacked in Lebanon. Trump said it could, describing the Lebanon fighting as a smaller problem compared with Iran, but adding that Hezbollah kept reappearing as an unresolved issue.
He then said Syria’s leader could be the one to handle Hezbollah, arguing that he had helped bring al-Sharaa to power together with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and others. Trump said al-Sharaa had done an “amazing job” uniting Syria and was tough on Hezbollah.
Trump also criticized Israel’s conduct in Lebanon, saying Israel had been fighting Hezbollah for too long and that too many people were being killed. He said Israel did not need to bring down a residential building every time it was looking for someone, because not everyone inside those buildings was a Hezbollah member.
Trump also directly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over an Israeli strike in Beirut’s Dahieh district hours before the completion of the agreement. He said he had a strong relationship with Netanyahu but that the Israeli leader needed to act more responsibly in Lebanon. Trump said he was unhappy with the way Israel had handled Lebanon and Hezbollah.
Trump repeated the message Sunday in an interview with Fox News, saying he was disappointed that Israel had failed to “move” Hezbollah. He said the IDF could not act without bringing down buildings and added that he was close to empowering al-Sharaa to enter southern Lebanon and fight Hezbollah.
Trump’s comments came as renewed fighting in Lebanon threatened to complicate U.S.-Iran understandings and the fragile ceasefire framework around Lebanon, with U.S. pressure on Israel and Tehran both central to the diplomatic push.