Upon shaking the hand of Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, during a tripartite meeting in Saudi Arabia earlier this spring, U.S. President Donald Trump praised the self-declared new leader of the Arab republic. Al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a former Al-Qaeda and ISIS jihadist wanted by the United States, with a $10 million bounty on his head.

He was described by Trump as a “young, attractive guy” with a “real shot at doing a good job.” The president went as far as to remove all sanctions on Syria “to give them a chance at greatness.” And he urged al-Sharaa to join the Abraham Accords with its neighbor and U.S. ally: Israel.

The president’s aspirations for Syria, however, could be overshadowed by al-Sharaa’s destructive plans toward his country’s Druze.

Shortly before meeting Trump, the former head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist political and paramilitary group that was formed in 2017, unleashed his henchmen to target Druze villages across Syria’s south, across the border from Israel. Al-Sharaa loyalists butchered more than 100 Druze on the outskirts of Damascus. Eyewitness accounts and graphic videos described scenes of mass violence, abductions and rape cases. Hundreds were displaced, fleeing for their…