Trump Picks His In-Law to Be Middle East Advisor
It appears marrying into the Trump family is a good way to get a political appointment. After the president-elect selected Charles Kushner, father of Ivanka Trump’s husband Jared Kushner, as his nominee for ambassador to France, Donald Trump announced he will nominate Massad Boulos as his advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos is Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. “I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs,” Trump wrote. “Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the International scene.”
Boulos, a Lebanese American billionaire, played a role in Trump’s campaign as an unofficial representative to Arab American and Muslim American communities, meeting with them in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere to shore up votes for Trump.
“Trump will be a strong president,” Boulos told Saudi broadcaster Al-Arabiya in October, according to The Los Angeles Times. “He’s the only president who can achieve peace [in Lebanon] and a permanent solution to the Palestinian problem.”
Boulos grew up in Lebanon during the country’s civil war but came to the U.S. where he received a degree in international law from the University of Houston. He married a Lebanese entrepreneur’s daughter who got him a position running SCOA Motors in Nigeria, which manufactures and distributes trucks and busses. Boulos launched an unsuccessful run for parliament in Lebanon in 2018. His son, Michael Boulos, married Tiffany Trump in a 2022 ceremony at Mar-a-Lago. Tiffany is currently pregnant with their first child.
According to The Times, many Lebanese believe Boulos can push Trump to end the war between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel launched an offensive on Lebanon and Hezbollah in the fall of this year.
Sources told Reuters that Boulos has been in recent contact with Hezbollah as well as other Lebanese leaders, including the Lebanese Forces Party, a Christian group that opposes Hezbollah.
“Boulos’ Lebanese political past gives no real indication of a geostrategic or even national vision, but it demonstrates ambition and a set of political allies that will stand out in Trump’s circle like a sore thumb,” Century Foundation fellow Aron Lund told Reuters.
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