Trump’s Call for Syria to Fight Hezbollah Could Backfire on Damascus and Lebanon

President Donald Trump’s public call on Tuesday, made on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, urging Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to act against Hezbollah in Lebanon is the clearest such demand he has made so far. The article says the appeal exposes a deep contradiction in U.S. policy, which seeks to stabilize the new Damascus regime while also pushing it toward a dangerous regional confrontation.

This is not a new idea. In March, during the early stages of the war with Iran, reports and rumors circulated that Syria might move into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah. A Reuters report on March 17 said the United States had encouraged Syria to consider action against Hezbollah, including deploying forces in eastern Lebanon, as part of a broader effort to curb Iranian influence. Reuters also reported that Damascus was hesitant because of fears of a wider regional conflict and deeper sectarian tensions, but U.S. envoy Tom Barrack later said the report was false and inaccurate.

According to the article, Washington has spent the past year helping al-Sharaa consolidate power, lifting sanctions, granting political legitimacy and encouraging foreign investment, all to support the new regime’s stabilization. Asking Syria to open a military front in Lebanon could instead drain vital resources, distract the government from internal challenges, and endanger the state-building project al-Sharaa is trying to assemble.

The risks extend to Lebanon, where any Syrian military move could undermine the slowly rebuilding trust between the two countries and revive memories of Syria’s bloody 1976 to 2005 occupation. The piece also notes Turkey’s opposition to Syrian involvement in Lebanon and the danger that al-Sharaa could be seen as serving Israeli interests, a narrative already circulating online in Syria. The article ends by questioning whether Washington truly wants Syria to fight Hezbollah, or whether Trump is mainly trying to pressure Israel or send a message to Hezbollah. If turned into actual policy, it could turn a relative U.S. success story into a new strategic liability.