Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington, D.C., and meet with President Donald Trump next week, the first-ever official visit by a Syrian president to the U.S. capital.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting was planned for Nov. 10. News of the meeting was first reported by Axios.

Trump and al-Sharaa met for the first time in May on the sidelines of the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

‘Young, attractive guy, tough guy,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting al-Sharaa, who is a former Al-Qaeda leader. ‘Strong past, very strong past — fighter. He’s got a real shot at holding it together.’

Al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the rebel offensive in December that toppled former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

His group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in June that the Trump administration would remove the label amid the president’s efforts to reset U.S.-Syria ties.

‘This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,’ Rubio said in a statement.

Trump received a standing ovation in Riyadh after announcing his administration would order the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to ‘give them a chance at greatness.’

‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ he joked, referring to Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin-Salman, who pushed Trump to meet with Syria’s new leader.

Efforts to lift the Caesar sanctions, the strongest sanctions on Syria, have faced procedural delays in Congress.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration supports repealing the Caesar sanctions through the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is under discussion by U.S. lawmakers.

The bill, which was named after a Syrian Army defector who smuggled thousands of images documenting torture and executions in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, targeted entities and individuals who provided support to Assad’s regime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that. … Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as GOP gubernatorial candidate Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said that Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration as top voter concern. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

2025 is an off-year election cycle, with just New Jersey and Virginia holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

As the government shutdown stretches over a month, one left-wing figure has emerged as House Republicans’ most-cited political boogeyman — and it’s not either of the top two Democrats in Congress.

Instead, it’s Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist who is running for mayor more than 200 miles away in New York City.

‘You’ve seen their party get pulled further to the socialist left, and it started when [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] beat Joe Crowley. And ever since then, Democrats have been afraid of that kind of emerging wing of their party,’ House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked why GOP leaders are invoking Mamdani so often.

‘Today, they are the center of the Democrat Party. They are running the Democrat Party, and you can see it, Mamdani is the one that they’re all scared of and they’re all listening to.’

He pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his recent endorsement of Mamdani.

‘It’s changed how they run their whole party operation, because they’re afraid of the left base of the party, which is really headed by Mamdani now,’ Scalise said.

House GOP leaders or speakers at their daily shutdown press conferences brought up Mamdani both directly and indirectly at every one of their press conferences last week.

At his Thursday press conference, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the media of criticizing his frequent commentary on the New York City socialist.

‘Amazingly, the media is criticizing Republicans for fixating on Mamdani. I read some of that yesterday. This socialist uprising is something that we have a responsibility to call out and sound the alarms. That’s what elected representatives of the people are supposed to do,’ Johnson said.

‘And we take that responsibility seriously. And obviously, Mamdani is a big issue here in the halls of Congress. Why? Because the second-highest ranked Democrat in the country, Leader Jeffries, endorsed him.’

Republicans have also taken to calling him ‘commie Mamdani’ recently, a nickname debuted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., during a shutdown press conference where House GOP leaders invited Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation to speak.

Mamdani himself criticized Johnson at one point for his focus on him earlier this month.

‘Speaker Johnson should be seating members of Congress, as opposed to using his time to try and attack our campaign,’ Mamdani fired back from Manhattan on Monday.

‘But I understand if I was one of the leaders of the Republican Party that had led a campaign that promised Americans a lower cost of living and cheaper groceries, and all I could deliver for them was a government shutdown, then I, too, would be looking to distract in any way that I could from those lack of results.’

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that.… Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one,’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean-spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

During this off-year election cycle, New Jersey and Virginia are holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

Late morning was sleepy but bright in Harlem Sunday as Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave remarks at the First Corinthian Baptist Church for some last-minute outreach to the Black community.

Just down the street, about 50 people were gathered to learn how to canvass for, and get a pep talk from, Mamdani, along with a row of TV cameras and some milling members of the press. One man walked by chanting ‘Cuomo, Cuomo,’ mostly to amusement from the crowd.

Suddenly, there he was, walking up the sidewalk with his entourage. A school bus driver screamed, ‘Zohran’ and the quick candidate pivoted over to the bus, and took a step up for a hug and a selfie.

It was the first time I had ever seen Mamdani in person, and the bad news for those of us who abhor socialism is that this 34-year-old candidate has some serious political chops, effortlessly and effervescently pressing the flesh with his trademark toothy smile.

‘He’s very polished,’ Matt, in his early 30s told me as we watched him take a few questions from what seemed to be pre-chosen reporters. I tried to ask him one but was ignored in my Fox News Digital vest. But that was OK. I was more interested in asking Matt and his friends questions.

They had just stumbled upon the event, and when I asked Matt to expand a bit on his thought, he told me, ‘He looks and sounds like a politician.’ I asked if that was a good or bad thing He just smiled and shrugged, but then added, ‘He also looks really young.’

Matt’s friend Cam told me, ‘He has a lot of appeal to the young people,’ I couldn’t quite gather if the millennial included himself in that category. He went on to say, ‘and that’s good. It’s time for the young people’s ideas to be tried now.’

In chatting with a few of the soon-to-be canvassers, there was an almost joyous quality about them. ‘We are all just so excited for him,’ one told me. Another added: ‘I’ve never felt this way about a candidate before.’

The canvassers, mostly on the young side, looked much more like gentrifiers than lifelong residents of Harlem, but that is, after all, now also a part of the historic Black neighborhood’s 21st Century identity.

Andrew Cuomo needs not just to win the Black vote on Tuesday to have any chance, he needs it to come out in massive numbers. Chad, who I met on the corner outside a bodega was trying his best to help.

I noticed him when I caught the tail end of a yelling match with an older Black woman. I saw he was handing out flyers, and had assumed it was for Mamdani. In fact, he was out there pushing campaign materials for Cuomo.

He told me he had been in New York all his life, and he wasn’t ready for the kind of change Mamdani is proposing. ‘Free stuff,’ Chad said with disdain. ‘It takes money to keep the lights on…I’m sick of hearing about people getting stuff for free, free, free, what about the children? What about the educational system?’

I asked him about the confrontation with the woman and he said, ‘I get that all the time. Some people just hate him, and feel free to be abusive towards me.’

I told him to keep a stiff upper lip, that what he was doing was important and how democracy works. He said, ‘Thanks, I needed to hear that.’

I was glad I could be consoling, but also understood instantly what a warning sign for Cuomo his account was. If older Black women in Harlem are giving him the business for supporting the former governor, then Cuomo’s backstop may not be as secure as it seems.

At the end of the day, for better or worse, political campaigns run on enthusiasm. For as much clear good sense as Chad made in his defense of Cuomo, the enthusiasm gap I have seen in the last few days on the ground is Grand Canyon sized.

Maybe there is a silent majority, or in this case a plurality, ready to quietly pour into voting booths and fill in the little circle for Cuomo. But if so, at least thus far, they are doing a very good job of hiding.