Trump meets Syria president as US looks to normalise relations with Damascus

Good morning and welcome back to FirstFT. Here are today’s highlights:

• Trump meets Syria’s new president in Riyadh

• US warns companies not to use Huawei AI chips

• FT investigates Elon Musk’s Doge

• Which airlines serve the best in-flight champagne?

Donald Trump has met Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh one day after he announced that the US would lift sanctions on the country and consider restoring relations. Here’s what you need to know.

Where did the two leaders meet? The US and Syrian leaders met in the the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The meeting between Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa was brokered by Saudi’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in order to give Syrians a “fresh start”. The meeting follows a day of dealmaking in the Saudi capital when $600bn worth of defence, artificial intelligence and other agreements were signed by the US with the kingdom.

Why is Washington softening its stance towards Syria? The meeting follows the decision by the US to lift sanctions on Syria. “We are currently exploring normalising relations with Syria’s new government,” Trump said after the meeting. The decision by Washington to drop sanctions, which was met with celebrations in Damascus, will boost Sharaa as he battles to consolidate his administration’s control over the fragmented nation. The Saudi crown prince said he welcomed Trump’s decision to lift sanctions, adding that it “will help alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and open a new page towards growth and prosperity”.

Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today:

• Nato: The military alliance’s foreign ministers meet in Turkey to discuss Ukraine, ahead of expected Ukraine-Russia peace talks tomorrow.

• Germany: Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers his first major policy speech to the lower house of parliament since taking office.

• Economic data: Brazil’s services sector is likely be scrutinised today, with the release of monthly PMS data. Separately, Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Censuses will be releasing the consumer prices data for April.

• US economy: Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, vice-chair Philip Jefferson and San Francisco Fed chair Mary Daly appear at events.

• Companies: Cisco Systems is expected to post a 10.6% increase in third-quarter revenue.

• Congress: Robert F. Kennedy Jr will testify before Congress for the first time since taking the role of health secretary, and will face questions over the firing of thousands of health agency employees and a fast-growing measles outbreak.

Join us for a subscriber-only webinar on May 28 for insights into the most consequential geopolitical rivalry of our time: the US-China showdown. Register now and put your questions to our panel.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Tesla’s board has formed a special committee to explore Elon Musk’s pay, which could lead to the electric-vehicle maker’s chief being offered a fresh package of stock options. People familiar with the matter said major investors had given the board their views on the billionaire’s pay and continued leadership of the company.

2. President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a tougher stance on Chinese technology advances, warning companies around the world that using artificial intelligence chips made by Huawei could trigger criminal penalties for violating US export controls. The commerce department issued guidance to clarify that Huawei’s Ascend processors were subject to export controls.

3. The US is exploring a potential deployment of Latin American peacekeeping troops to Haiti, according to three people familiar with the situation. A Kenyan-led international force has failed to halt a takeover by criminal gangs of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince which threaten to seize the last few neighbourhoods to which the country’s interim government has retreated. Read more on how the deployment would work.

4. Moët Hennessy went from generating €1bn in cash in 2019 to burning through €1.5bn last year, according to documents seen by the FT. People familiar with the group behind Dom Pérignon champagne and Hennessy cognac said strategic decisions made under the leadership of former chief executive Philippe Schaus, who left the group at the start of 2025, exacerbated its problems.

5. China has criticised a trade deal between the UK and US that could be used to squeeze Chinese products out of British supply chains, complicating London’s efforts to rebuild relations with Beijing. Asked about the deal, Beijing said it was a “basic principle” that agreements between countries should not target other nations.

• UK-US: Washington is eyeing a multibillion-dollar slice of Britain’s pork, poultry, rice and seafood sectors, as it looks to expand the trade deal.

• China manufacturing: Exporters were “shocked and elated” after China and the US agreed a thaw in their trade war.

• US-China: Ports and shipping lines are braced for a demand “whipsaw” as businesses race to stockpile Christmas goods during the 90-day trade war “ceasefire”.

News in-depth

Six months after Donald Trump officially announced the formation of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting vehicle, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), it yet to find a fraction of the $2tn of savings promised at a rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden during the election campaign. Today’s Big Read has found evidence of inflated valuations to boost numbers and contracts that were due to lapse being claimed as new savings. Read the investigation in full.

We’re also reading and watching . . . 

• Global trade: We seem unable to turn the surplus in some countries into productive investment elsewhere, writes Martin Wolf.

• Trump’s “palace-in-the-sky”: Qatar’s offer of free jumbo jet advances the argument that the US is becoming a kleptocracy under this president, argues Edward Luce.

• Milk is back: The dairy industry’s efforts to woo customers away from plant products are a masterclass in corporate survival tactics, writes Brooke Masters.

• 🎬 $40bn bitcoin bet: Michael Saylor transformed lossmaking Strategy into the world’s largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency. Can it survive a crash?

Chart of the day

US stocks recovered their losses for the year after yesterday’s lower than expected inflation figures added fuel to a rally sparked by Trump’s deal with China to cut tariffs. “There’s been an instant reversal in the prevailing trends of the last several months,” said one fund manager.

Take a break from the news

HTSI drinks columnist Alice Lascelles shares which airlines serve the best champagne — “for those lucky enough to turn left when boarding”.