Infamous terrorist Abu Mohammed al-Julani, also known as Al-Sharaa, once wanted by the United States government with a $10 million bounty on his head, was greeted with smiles, handshakes, and even a game of pickup basketball during his official visit to the White House last week. President Trump once promised to take violent Islamic terrorism seriously, but it seems like he’s decided it’s no longer a problem. Al-Julani’s visit shows how completely out of touch the administration has gotten on the issue of Islamic terrorism.
Abu Mohammed al-Julani founded Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front, in late 2011. Julani was sent by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself to open the terror group’s latest franchise. In a 2019 speech, President Trump bragged about how al-Baghdadi was hunted in tunnels by military dogs before he exploded a suicide bomb that killed him and three children. “Baghdadi’s demise demonstrates America’s relentless pursuit of terrorist leaders and our commitment to the enduring and total defeat of ISIS and other terrorist organizations,” Trump said.
After seizing power through violent revolution in Syria, it seems Al-Julani no longer qualifies as an affiliate of “other terrorist organizations” eligible for swift U.S. justice despite his horrific crimes. Even more concerning is that there’s no sign Julani has shed his radical Islamist core.In fact, the facts on the ground in Syria show just the opposite.
Days after Julani’s Oval Office visit, Syria’s Ministry of Culture issued public invitations to a national event commemorating the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel known as “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” by its perpetrators.
The November 14 ceremony was scheduled to be an official state-sponsored celebration of the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. 1,200 innocent people, including U.S. citizens, were murdered. 250 were taken hostage. Surviving hostages were tortured, raped, and abused mentally and physically. The bodies of murdered hostages were desecrated and paraded through the streets of Gaza to further humiliate families that had suffered so much.
The Ministry of Culture’s commemoration event was reportedly cancelled abruptly, but Julani or his government has issued no official apology. Despite public pledges by Julani to build a “new Syria” focused on inclusivity and reconstruction, Julani and his officials continue to endorse and tolerate rhetoric and actions that glorify the October 7th Islamic terrorist attack.
I’ve watched Julani closely since he assumed power earlier this year. In September, he made his debut on the world stage with a speech before the United Nations that was full of lies and absurdities, but the jihadist was allowed to speak uninterrupted. And his teleprompter and elevators functioned flawlessly, which is more than I can say about the treatment President Trump received at the U.N. General Assembly this year.
Why is an unrepentant Islamic terrorist being welcomed into President Trump’s orbit?
President Trump said it himself in 2013. The Syrian rebels are “radical jihadists,” not our friends, and backing them wasn’t in America’s interest then, and it’s not in our interest now. Those were his words, not mine.
With this in mind, why is a well-known jihadi being normalized while the American people are told everything is fine? These are not fringe concerns; they’re questions of strategic clarity. Suppose the U.S. government is indeed engaging with actors who continue to glorify terror attacks while promising to keep us safe from foreign threats. In that case, Americans deserve full transparency: What changed? What is the plan for safeguarding Americans from Islamic terrorism?
President Trump has not forgotten his strident opposition to Islamic terrorism that defined his first term, but it looks like his advisors might.
President Lincoln famously said, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” If only Julani had ever chosen to be a friend to the United States instead of an opportunistic, ideologically-driven Islamic militant who has spent his entire adult life fighting against the interests of the United States and our allies.
