Opinion | Syria Comes to Washington—at Long Last

Can you believe President Trump sat down with him at the White House? That’s the question most of the media has posed after the Monday visit of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al Qaeda and Islamist rebel commander who now rules Syria. But what if this framing gets the dynamic backward?

Mr. Trump will meet with anyone, as he’s amply demonstrated. The real geopolitical news here is that a President of Syria has come to the White House—for the first time—to bring his country into the American orbit. This is an opportunity to reverse seven decades of enmity.