US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is considering lifting sanctions on Syria as the country begins to rebuild following more than a decade of civil war. “We are going to have to make a decision on the sanctions, which we may very well relieve. We may take them off of Syria because we want to give them a fresh start,” Trump told journalists at the White House before departing on a trip to the Middle East. Syria’s new government, which toppled longtime president Bashar al-Assad in December, has been urging the removal of Assad-era sanctions to help revive the country’s devastated economy and support reconstruction efforts. Catch MEE LIVE, our new biweekly live news programme, where we take a look at the news shaping our world through breaking coverage, expert analysis and hard-hitting interviews. MEE LIVE: Tuesday & Thursday | 12pm ET | 5pm BST | Join the conversation at MEELive@middleeasteye.org Support stories that matter. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0fZh5SBxxMNYdg0VzRFkg/join Subscribe to our channel: http://ow.ly/AVlW30n1OWH Subscribe to MEE Telegram channel to stay up to date: https://t.me/MiddleEastEye_TG Middle East Eye Website: https://middleeasteye.net Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@middleeasteye Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/MiddleEastEye Like us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/MiddleEastEye Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye