Trump sprayed Syrian president with cologne and asked how many wives he had

 The Syrian president arrived through a White House side entrance. Journalists, with their awkward questions about his past as a jihadist, were kept out of the Oval Office.

But a candid video reveals the warmth of Donald Trump’s private greeting for Ahmad al-Sharaa, as he completed his journey from militant leader to head of state.

“This is men’s fragrance,” said Mr Trump, while taking the golden cap off a bottle of his own cologne before spraying the clearly reluctant former emir of a paramilitary group linked with Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

“It’s the best fragrance. OK?”

Mr Trump said there was a second bottle for his wife, before he joked: “How many wives do you have? One?”

When Mr Sharaa, who until days ago was classified a “specially designated global terrorist”, laughed and confirmed he has just one wife, Mr Trump slapped him on the arm with a smile.

“With you guys, I never know,” he says.

The jokey reference to the way Islam allows four wives (under certain strict conditions) marked a very different atmosphere to the last time Mr Sharaa had been a guest of the US – held at the notorious Abu Ghraib military prison in Iraq decades earlier.

PR push for Syria

Mr Sharaa’s trip to Washington was part of an international public relations push. After ditching his combat fatigues his message is that rebel forces, and his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, is no threat to the West after toppling the regime of President Bashir al-Assad.

It leaves Mr Trump with a delicate line to tread.

Hardline supporters, such as Laura Loomer, condemned the White House meeting, repeatedly flagging past abuses by Mr Sharaa’s group.

“For the record, I don’t find it to be funny,” she posted as the video of a jocular Mr Trump wafting perfume went viral.

Mr Trump’s officials had taken precautions for the visit on Monday.

The Syrian president was not afforded the usual privilege of pulling up to the West Wing in a limousine. There were no flags, guard of honour or presidential handshake at the door.

Instead his car was spotted at a basement entrance on West Executive Drive, used by national security officials during a crisis or members of Congress arriving for secret talks.

And Mr Trump eschewed the opportunity to invite cameras into their Oval Office meeting, where he usually revels in the chance to joust with reporters.