Trump’s remarks followed a second day of talks with Xi in Beijing covering Iran, Taiwan, trade and regional security, amid mounting concern over energy supplies and maritime instability linked to the conflict.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump told reporters after the meeting.

The White House said both leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the conflict — must remain open to international shipping.

Iran effectively curtailed most commercial traffic through the strategic waterway following U.S.-Israeli strikes that began on Feb. 28, triggering major disruption in global energy markets and renewed fears over supply-chain shocks.

Trump said Xi had also assured Washington that China would not provide military equipment to Tehran.
“He said he’s not going to give military equipment, that’s a big statement,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News’ “Hannity.”

China, Iran’s largest oil customer and one of its closest strategic partners, did not publicly confirm details of the discussions. However, China’s foreign ministry criticized the continuation of the war, saying the conflict “should never have happened” and had no justification to continue.

The war has become a growing political and economic challenge for the White House ahead of U.S. midterm elections later this year, with prolonged instability pushing up global energy costs and disrupting shipping routes across the Gulf.

Trump signaled increasing impatience with stalled diplomatic efforts involving Tehran.

“I am not going to be much more patient. They should make a deal,” Trump said in the televised interview.
Negotiations aimed at ending the conflict have remained deadlocked after Iran rejected demands to halt its nuclear program and surrender enriched uranium stockpiles. Tehran maintains its nuclear activities are intended for civilian purposes and denies seeking atomic weapons capability.

Trump suggested the issue of Iran’s uranium reserves was partly symbolic from Washington’s perspective.
“I just feel better if I got it,” he said, referring to the stockpile. “It’s more for public relations than it is for anything else.”

The White House said Xi expressed opposition to the militarisation of the Strait of Hormuz and rejected proposals linked to imposing tolls on shipping transiting the corridor, an idea Iranian officials have previously raised.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview from Beijing that China had strong economic incentives to help restore maritime traffic through the strait.

Analysts, however, questioned whether Beijing would significantly pressure Tehran, given Iran’s strategic value as a counterweight to U.S. influence in the Middle East.

The conflict has increasingly spilled into regional shipping lanes.

An Indian cargo vessel carrying livestock from Africa to the United Arab Emirates sank off Oman on Wednesday after reportedly being struck by a missile or drone, according to British maritime security firm Vanguard. India said all 14 crew members were rescued.

Separately, Britain’s UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that unauthorized personnel boarded a vessel anchored near the UAE port of Fujairah and redirected it toward Iranian waters.

Vanguard said the ship was believed to have been seized by Iranian personnel.

Fujairah, located outside the Strait of Hormuz on the Gulf of Oman, serves as the UAE’s only oil export terminal bypassing the narrow maritime chokepoint.
Diplomatic efforts linked to the broader regional conflict continued separately in Washington, where Lebanese and Israeli officials held talks on Thursday that a senior U.S. State Department official described as productive and positive.

Trump has said the objectives of the campaign against Iran include dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program, reducing its regional military capabilities and increasing pressure on the Iranian leadership.

Sharaa, whose forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad late last year, is set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The visit marks the first by a Syrian head of state to the United States since the country’s independence in 1946, analysts said.

The interim Syrian leader previously met Trump in Riyadh in May during the U.S. president’s regional tour.

Washington’s envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said earlier this month that Sharaa was expected to sign an agreement for Syria to join the international U.S.-led coalition against the Daesh (Islamic State) group.

According to a diplomatic source in Damascus, the United States also plans to establish a military base near the Syrian capital “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel.”

Delisting and Diplomatic Shifts

The U.S. State Department’s decision to remove Sharaa from the terrorism blacklist on Friday had been widely anticipated.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had made progress in addressing key American demands, including cooperation on locating missing U.S. citizens and eliminating any remaining chemical weapons stockpiles.

“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.

He added that removing Sharaa from the blacklist would promote “regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”

Crackdown on Daesh

Syria’s interior ministry announced on Saturday that it had carried out 61 raids and made 71 arrests in a “proactive campaign to neutralize the threat” of Daesh, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

The ministry said the operations targeted suspected Islamic State sleeper cells across several provinces, including Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Damascus.

Following his arrival in Washington, Sharaa met with representatives of Syrian community organizations in the U.S. capital, Syrian media reported.

In a lighthearted moment ahead of his departure, Syrian Foreign Minister posted a video on social media showing Sharaa playing basketball with U.S. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Brad Cooper and Kevin Lambert, head of the international anti-Daesh coalition in Iraq, with the caption: “Work hard, play harder.”

From Rebel Commander to Statesman

Sharaa’s visit to Washington follows his appearance at the United Nations General Assembly in September — his first trip to U.S. soil — where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the assembly in New York.

On Thursday, the U.S. led a Security Council vote to lift U.N. sanctions against him.

Once affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa formerly led the militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which was delisted as a terrorist organization by Washington in July.

Since seizing power, Syria’s new leadership has sought to distance itself from its extremist roots and project a more moderate, internationally acceptable image.

“The White House visit is further testament to the U.S. commitment to the new Syria and a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” said Michael Hanna, U.S. Program Director at the International Crisis Group.

Reconstruction Challenges Ahead

Sharaa is expected to seek international funding for Syria’s post-war reconstruction during his visit. The country faces enormous economic and humanitarian challenges after 13 years of civil conflict.

In October, the World Bank estimated the cost of rebuilding Syria at a “conservative best estimate” of $216 billion.

As Washington and Damascus cautiously rebuild diplomatic ties, Sharaa’s visit signals what many observers see as a historic turning point — both for Syria’s reemergence on the world stage and for a region long defined by conflict and isolation.