According to reporting by Max Blumenthal in The Grayzone, cited by José Niño at Headline USA, the Trump administration quietly removed several alleged Al Qaeda–affiliated operatives from U.S. terrorism sanctions lists as Washington simultaneously took Syria off its State Sponsors of Terrorism list. DailyHeadlines has not independently verified these claims.
What the report claims changed
Headline USA, summarizing The Grayzone’s account, states that Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) records show multiple figures tied to Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch lost their designated status in August. The same reporting says Washington dropped Syria—described as being governed by Ahmad Al‑Sharaa—from the terror list, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it “another historic step by President Trump to give the Syrian people a path to prosperity.”
Figures named by the outlets
The outlets name Saudi cleric Abdullah Muhaysini among those allegedly delisted. They also list Abu Sulayman al‑Muhajir, Shafi Sultan Mohammed al‑Ajmi, and Abdul Samrez Jashari as having been cleared of prior designations.
Context on Syria and leadership, per the reporting
The Grayzone’s account, as relayed by Headline USA, identifies Ahmad Al‑Sharaa—formerly known as Abu Mohammad al‑Jolani—as Syria’s leader. It attributes to that account that Al‑Sharaa co‑founded ISIS, then built Jabhat al‑Nusra before rebranding it as Hayat Tahrir al‑Sham (HTS), and that HTS toppled Bashar al‑Assad in December 2024. The same reporting says ties warmed after Trump hosted Al‑Sharaa at the White House in November 2025, with a personal anecdote about cologne and marriages, and that Trump later floated a loose proposal for Syria’s military to confront Iran.
Violent rhetoric and past footage cited
Headline USA cites footage from 2015—said to be preserved by analyst Joshua Landis—depicting Muhaysini addressing blindfolded Syrian troops captured at an Idlib airbase before their execution. In that video, according to the outlets, Muhaysini said: “I don’t like to call them Sunni. They were once Sunni but became apostatized once they enlisted in the Alawites’ regime.”
The reporting also references claims that Muhaysini’s mentor, Sulayman Al‑Alwan, ran a “terrorist factory” linked to 9/11 hijacker Abdulaziz Alomari, and that Grayzone’s earlier work alleged Muhaysini drew thousands of young recruits into suicide attacks, including children reportedly pulled from the Atmeh Refugee Camp by 2018.
After Assad’s fall, a religious message, the outlets say
Per the Headline USA/Grayzone narrative, Muhaysini reappeared in Damascus days after Assad’s fall, declaring inside the Umayyad Mosque: “I truly believe that in Paradise there are entire villages for the people of the Levant.”
Timing flagged by the report
The outlets further claim the sanctions relief arrived a day after Trump confirmed he would skip the 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero.
What’s not verified
DailyHeadlines has not independently reviewed OFAC records, State Department designations, the alleged White House meeting, or the video and prior investigations cited. All claims above are attributed to Headline USA’s summary of Max Blumenthal’s reporting in The Grayzone.
