⁍ The US has not had diplomatic relations with Syria since 2012.

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⁍ Kash Patel, the senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, made the trip with the support of President Donald Trump.

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⁍ Tice, an American journalist, went missing in Syria in 2012.

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– A top Trump administration official met with Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus this fall in an attempt to secure the release of American prisoners held there, CNN reports. Kash Patel, the senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, made the trip with the support of President Trump and in coordination with the State Department. The US hasn’t had diplomatic relations with Syria since 2012, and Trump wrote a letter to Assad earlier this year offering “direct dialogue” over Austin Tice, one of the Americans believed to be held by the Assad regime. Tice, an American journalist, went missing in Syria in 2012. State Department Special Representative for Syria Jim Jeffrey said in December that the US believes Tice is alive and “is being held captive inside Syria.” The Wall Street Journal was first to report on Patel’s visit and the involvement of national security adviser Robert O’Brien in the process. O’Brien, who was the top hostage negotiator at the State Department before he became Trump’s national security adviser, has been engaged in the process. Lebanese security chief Major-General Abbas Ibrahim met O’Brien to discuss the Americans held in Syria, according to one administration official. Ibrahim, director-general of Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security, was involved in helping to secure the release of Sam Goodwin, a 30-year-old American who was held for 62 days after disappearing in Syria last year while traveling. The State Department did not reply to CNN’s request for comment.