LANSING, Mich. (AP) — One of Donald Trump’s emissaries to Arab Americans is a Lebanese-born businessman who moved to Texas as a teenager, speaks Arabic, English and French, and recently joined the Trump family when his son got married with the former president’s family. youngest daughter.
Massad Boulos has taken on the challenge of convincing a politically influential community angry with President Joe Biden that Trump is a better option. But many Arab Americans also note that Trump has positioned himself more pro-Israel than Biden and has made a series of comments and policy announcements that critics have labeled Islamophobic.
Trump has long given family members and their relatives a key role in his campaigns and in the White House. Boulos, whose son Michael married Tiffany Trump two years ago, is the latest family member to rise in Trump’s political circle as he leverages longstanding connections in an effort to build support for the presumptive Republican nominee’s 2024 campaign.
Some Trump allies believe they can take advantage of divisions within Biden’s Democratic base over his support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, where more than 37,000 people have been killed since Hamas killed Oct. 7, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory who don’t do that. indicate the collapse of civilians and combatants. Biden faced significant protest votes during Michigan’s February primary in areas with large numbers of Arab Americans, who form a key Democratic bloc.
“The No. 1 issue of high priority within the Arab-American community is clearly the current war in the Middle East,” Boulos said in an interview. “And the question is: who can bring peace and who can bring war? And they know the answer to that.”
Several people who met Boulos also pointed out Trump’s statements about Arabs and Muslims. While president, Trump banned immigration from several Muslim countries and questioned the loyalty of Muslim lawmakers in Congress. As he campaigns for a second term after his 2020 defeat, Trump has at times criticized Biden for not being sufficiently supportive of Israel and has threatened to deport pro-Palestinian protesters he labels as supporters of Hamas.
“I told Massad, ‘This is not about you being Lebanese and me being Lebanese,’” said Osama Siblani, a publisher of Arab American News in Dearborn. “You can’t just buy votes. You have to give something substantial to the community. And Trump hasn’t done that yet.”
A scion enters American politics
Boulos, who is of medium stature with graying black hair, square glasses and a warm, friendly smile, is often complimented for his calm demeanor and humility – qualities not always associated with someone overseeing a billion-dollar conglomerate .
Born in Lebanon, Boulos moved to Texas shortly before attending the University of Houston and earning a doctorate in jurisprudence. Boulos said he actively participated in Republican politics as a student.
After graduating, he eventually joined the three-generation family business, becoming director and CEO of the conglomerate SCOA Nigeria, which specializes in the assembly and distribution of motor vehicles and equipment.
Boulos has a background in politics in his home country, having unsuccessfully run for a parliamentary seat in Lebanon in 2009. He describes himself as a “friend” of Sleiman Frangieh, a Christian politician with ties to the Shiite party and the militant group Hezbollah. Frangieh is currently the Hezbollah-backed candidate for the presidential vacancy in Lebanon.
Boulos had been a Trump supporter since his first campaign and became more directly involved after meeting Trump at a White House Christmas party in 2019. Michael Boulos was dating Tiffany Trump at the time.
Massad Boulos has not given any recent donations, according to campaign financial records. But during a trip to Michigan this month, he attended what he described as a “private fundraising event” with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and about 50 Arab Americans.
Boulos assisted in the 2020 campaign, but his role has expanded significantly since his son married Tiffany Trump in 2022, especially as Arab-American dissatisfaction with Biden presented a bigger political opportunity, Trump allies believe.
“One less vote for Biden is a vote for Trump,” said Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group Arab Americans for Trump.
Boulos maintains a “very close working relationship” with the group, Bahbah said.
The group, which says it is independent of the Trump campaign, has set up operations in Michigan and Arizona, states identified as priority areas by “people close to Trump,” Bahbah said.
At a May meeting in Troy, Michigan, Massad and Michael Boulos were present, as was Richard Grenell, Trump’s ambassador to Germany and a key foreign policy adviser to the former president. About 40 Arab-American activists from across the country attended.
While Arab Americans were involved in the event before Trump, Boulos said it was primarily initiated by Grenell. The meeting received mixed reactions, with some attendees saying it lacked substance and did not address their concerns about Trump.
“Grenell didn’t say what they would do, but he kept reminding us that when Trump was president, there was no war at all and he launched the largest peace effort in the Middle East. But most Arabs and Muslims do not view the Abraham Accords as a peace agreement,” said Khaled Saffuri, an Arab-American political activist who attended.
Grenell tried to call Trump to have him address attendees by phone, according to several people at the meeting. The former president did not respond.
Grenell and the Trump campaign declined to comment.
Within outreach
Just over a week later, Boulos returned for another round of engagements. This time, he held several meetings with nearly fifty members of the Arab American community, in addition to one-on-one sessions with individuals identified as “high-target” leaders by Mike Hacham, Trump’s coordinator for Arab Americans in Michigan. .
Boulos said his efforts so far have been “more of a personal effort to reconnect with friends.” He said he typically starts meetings by speaking for nearly 20 minutes, laying out the details of the Biden and Trump presidencies. He then opens the floor for any questions.
Siblani had a nearly two-hour meeting with Boulos, who was accompanied by Bahbah, the chairman of Arab Americans for Trump.
According to Siblani, Boulos argued that things were better for Arab Americans under Trump and that the world saw less conflict and fewer wars during his presidency, suggesting that Trump could help resolve the conflict in Gaza.
But when Siblani pushed back, he said Boulos “didn’t have facts to prove his claim that Trump is better.”
“Massad cannot convince people to side with Trump because he has not offered anything substantial to the community other than that his son is married to Trump’s daughter and he has access,” Siblani said. “That’s fine, but what we need is policy and what Trump is going to do.”
In interviews, Boulos said Trump “respects and admires” the Arab-American community. He denied the existence of a “Muslim ban,” which is how many of Trump’s opponents refer to his ban on immigrants from various Muslim countries. Boulos argued that it was actually “extreme research from certain parts of the world.”
The most important messages arising from these meetings are communicated to Trump, according to Boulos. Boulos highlighted as evidence a recent social media post from Trump promising to bring “peace to the Middle East” if he is re-elected. Boulos claimed the timing of the post was “not a coincidence” but rather a response to “listening to the community’s concerns.”
Trump’s statement, posted on June 4 on his social media platform Truth Social, did not go far enough for several community leaders who met with Boulos.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes said the campaign is “grateful that supporters of President Trump are trying to communicate with this community.”
“We share the belief that Biden’s failed Middle East policy has brought death, chaos and war to the region. That failure prompted tens of thousands of Democrats to vote “uncommitted” during Michigan’s presidential primaries. The Trump campaign has and will continue to communicate with those voters, reminding them that President Trump’s policies in the Middle East have brought that region historic levels of peace and stability,” Hughes said.
Only the beginning
Some in the community still believe there are other options than just Trump and Biden. Green Party candidate Jill Stein visited Dearborn this year to meet with leaders and recently had discussions with the city’s mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, about the possibility of him becoming her running mate.
At the age of 34, Hammoud is ineligible for the vice presidency. The U.S. Constitution requires that both the president and vice president be at least 35 years old.
Officials in the Biden administration have also visited Dearborn to meet with local leaders and have maintained ongoing contact with them, including Siblani.
Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, criticized the overreach of Trump allies, saying in a statement that Trump “poses the greatest threat to the Muslim and Arab communities.”
“He and his allies believe we don’t belong in this country and Trump openly talks about allowing Israel to bomb Gaza without regard,” said Moussa, an Arab-American. “Trump and his campaign are racists and Islamophobes. Point. President Biden, on the other hand, is working tirelessly toward a just and lasting peace.”
Until the November elections, Boulos said he will continue to divide his time between running his business and meeting with the Arab-American community.
He emphasized that he is driven solely by being a “concerned citizen and Republican.” He has not considered a role in the Trump administration if the Republican wins.
“To be honest, I have no ideas about that at the moment. “I haven’t thought about it at all, but I’m definitely not aiming for anything,” he said.
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Associated Press reporters Jill Colvin in Washington, Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, and Chinedu Asadu in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
