Trump holds key to saving Syria’s vanishing Christians in crucial White House meeting
By Sam Brownback , Nadine Maenza | Fox News | November 9, 2025
The United States has a rare and decisive opportunity to safeguard Syria’s endangered religious minorities, as President Donald Trump meets with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House Monday.
This marks a significant step in Syria’s turbulent history following the fall of the Assad regime last December.
Championing a federated system of governance that decentralizes power will help secure the survival of Christian, Druze and other vulnerable communities. Until decentralization efforts are established, self-defense capabilities for these religious minority communities are essential to protect them from sectarian violence and “religious cleansing.”
As a fresh Syrian government looks to rebuild a nation fractured by years of civil war, and after a summer of heinous persecution, President Trump’s role in ensuring the fate of Syria’s religious minorities, particularly the Christians, has never been more crucial.
As a fresh Syrian government looks to rebuild a nation fractured by years of civil war, and after a summer of heinous persecution, President Trump’s role in ensuring the fate of Syria’s religious minorities, particularly the Christians, has never been more crucial.
In June, a suicide bomber walked into a Greek Orthodox church outside Damascus and detonated his explosives. The force killed 25 and left 65 wounded in its wake. The grief-filled congregation sorted through the bodies of worshipers scattered among the shards of stained glass and rubble, the eyes of the Holy Prophet Elias icon looking down over the bloodied church. Charred Bibles and shoes blown off the victims’ feet were piled up, a grisly monument to the horrific carnage.
Only one month later, the Greek Melkite Church of St. Michael, located in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida, was ransacked and set ablaze. The flames consumed the holy sanctuary and sparked a new wave of religious violence.
Before the civil war began in 2011, more than 1.5 million people, 10% of Syria’s population, were Christians. Today, as few as 300,000 Christians remain.
Syria is the oldest home of Christians outside of Israel. It was on the road to Damascus that the Apostle Paul famously was called by Christ. It was in Antioch (now in modern Turkey) that the followers of Christ were first called Christians. The Patriarchate of Antioch was the first of the pentarchy in the early centuries of the Church.
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