President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Lebanese-American businessman Massad Boulos, father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, as his senior adviser for Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.
Boulos arranged the Trump campaign’s efforts to engage Michigan’s Arab American community, an Arab American population angered by Democratic President Joe Biden’s support for Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon. We organized dozens of meetings in areas where there are many people. Trump won Dearborn Heights, a majority-Arab-American city, on his way to sweeping wins in Michigan and other battleground states.
“He is a long-time supporter of Republican and conservative values, a valuable asset to my campaign, and a great new partner with the Arab American community,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He has worked hard to build cooperation.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Boulos have said the Republican president-elect will bring peace to the Middle East, but neither has publicly provided specific details about Mr. Trump’s plans for the region.
Boulos has previously sought public office in Lebanon and has long-standing ties to Lebanese politicians. Trump’s other picks for key national security posts are ardent supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally.
Mike Huckabee, who was nominated by President Trump to be ambassador to Israel, has consistently rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state in Israeli-occupied territory. He claimed that there are “no real Palestinians”, referring to the descendants of people who lived in Palestine before the creation of the state of Israel.
Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, has advocated rebuilding a Jewish temple based on the Bible on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites.
Mr. Boulos helped exploit discord within the Democratic Party base over support for Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip. More than 44,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, health officials in the Hamas-run region said. Divide civilians and combatants by total.
In 2016, Trump won Michigan by just over 10,000 votes, and in 2020, Biden took the state back to Democrats by about 154,000 votes. Trump won Michigan in November, defeating Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris with 49.7% of the vote.
“Mr. Massad is a business partner and an unwavering supporter of peace in the Middle East,” President Trump said on Truth Social.
Mr. Trump, who has long placed family members and relatives in key positions, has indicated he intends to run his second administration in a similar manner. On Saturday, he announced his intention to nominate real estate developer Charles Kushner, father of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, as ambassador to France.
