Extra: A Most Unusual White House Meeting

The Fox News Rundown

FOX News Podcasts

News, Daily News, Politics

3.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On Monday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa became the first Syrian leader to visit the White House. That alone would have been noteworthy ... But Al-Sharaa, who assumed leadership of Syria after leading a rebel group that overthrew the Assad regime, was previously a militant in an al-Qaeda-linked group and was captured by American forces while fighting against the U.S. in Iraq in 2006. However, the once anti-American extremist is now working with the Trump Administration on securing his country and the region. Earlier this week, FOX News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall joined the Rundown's Dave Anthony to discuss Monday’s extraordinary White House meeting, President Ahmed al-Sharaa's "rough past" and his unusual journey to the Oval Office. Hall, who has covered Syria for more than a decade and has traveled there, discussed whether America should trust al-Sharaa and what a friendly relationship between Syria and the U.S. could mean for the region. We often must cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with FOX News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.9	This is the Fox News Rundown, Extra.
0:37.9	I'm Dave Anthony.
0:39.9	Today, an unusual meeting at the White House.
0:44.5	When President Trump, back on Monday, sat down with the leader of another country who used to be a wanted terrorist,
0:52.9	captured and imprisoned by the U.S. during the war in Iraq.
0:57.3	Ahmed al-Shara is Syria's new president, taking over the government after his rebel group's uprising,
1:04.7	ousted the Assad regime ending along Syrian civil war, though the fighting still rages on there.
1:11.9	Now Al-Shaara, who recently had U.N. Security Council sanctions against him lifted,
1:18.0	is trying to normalize relations with the U.S.
1:20.2	He is Syria's first ever leader to visit the White House,
1:24.2	where President Trump praised him for trying to make change amid a push for
1:28.2	peace in the Middle East. He also acknowledged Alshara had a rough past, which you will hear much more
1:35.6	about with Benjamin Hall, our Fox News senior correspondent who's been reporting on Syria for years.
1:41.6	He's been there numerous times and understands that country's
1:44.9	very delegate politics. Ben knows so much about Syria and its new president. We could not fit
1:51.2	the entire conversation we had the other day into our regular rundown podcast. So today,
1:56.6	it's an extra, letting you hear all of it, including the end when he teases a very interesting discussion he had on his own podcast, titled Searching for Heroes.
2:07.6	So thank you for being here and listening, and we hope you check out Ben's show and many others in our podcast network as well.
2:15.1	And now Benjamin Hall on the Fox News Rundown Extra.
2:24.1	Joining us again on the Fox News rundown, we're delighted to have Benjamin Hall,
	...

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