Trump allies bank on his daughter's Lebanese father-in-law to win Arab-American votes

Republican presidential candidate, former president Donald Trump, speaks at the 'People's Convention' of Turning Point Action in Detroit. 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 married the former president’s younger daughter.

Massad Boulos has taken on the challenge of trying to convince a politically influential community angry at President Joe Biden that Trump is a better option.

But many Arab Americans also noted that Trump has positioned himself as more pro-Israel than Mr Biden and has made a series of comments and policy announcements that critics blast as Islamophobic.

Some Trump allies think they can capitalise on dissension within Mr Biden's Democratic base over his support for the Israeli offensive in Gaza, where more than 37,000 people have died since Hamas' October 7, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory who do not give the breakdown of civilians and fighters.

“Obviously the No 1 point that is of high priority within the Arab American community is the current war in the Middle East,” Mr Boulos said in an interview. “And the question is, who can bring peace and who is bringing war? And they know the answer to that.”

Several of the people who have met with Mr Boulos point to Trump's statements about Arabs and Muslims. While president, Trump banned immigration from several majority-Muslim countries and questioned the loyalty of Muslim lawmakers serving in Congress.

Now, as he campaigns for a second term after losing in 2020, Trump has at times criticised Mr Biden for being insufficiently supportive of Israel and has threatened to deport pro-Palestinian protesters he labels as supporters of Hamas.

“I told Massad, ‘This isn’t about you being Lebanese and me being Lebanese,’” said Osama Siblani, a publisher of the 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 moves into US politics

Born in Lebanon, Mr Boulos moved to Texas shortly before attending the University of Houston and obtaining a doctor of jurisprudence degree.

Mr Boulos said he actively participated in Republican politics as a student.

Mr Boulos has a background in politics in his home country, having run unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat in Lebanon in 2009.

He describes himself as a “friend” of Sleiman Frangieh, a Christian politician allied with the Shiite party and the militant group Hezbollah. Frangieh is currently Hezbollah's endorsed candidate for Lebanon's presidential vacancy.

A supporter of Trump from afar since his first campaign, Mr Boulos became more directly involved after meeting Trump at a White House Christmas party in 2019. At the time, Michael Boulos was dating Tiffany Trump.

Mr Boulos assisted with the 2020 campaign, but his role has significantly expanded since his son married Tiffany Trump in 2022, especially as Arab American dissatisfaction with Mr Biden presented what Trump allies think is a larger political opportunity.

“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, Mr Bahbah said.

Inside the outreach

In interviews, Mr Boulos said that Trump “respects and admires” the Arab American community.

He denied the existence of a “Muslim ban,” which is how many Trump opponents refer to his ban on immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries.

Mr Boulos argued it was actually “extreme vetting from certain parts of the world”.

He highlighted a recent social media post from Trump that promised to bring “peace in the Middle East” if reelected, as evidence. And asserted that the timing of the post “wasn’t a coincidence” but rather a response to “listening to the community’s concerns”.

Trump’s statement, posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on June 4, did not go far enough for multiple community leaders who met with Mr Boulos.

In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Brian Hughes said the campaign is “grateful that supporters of President Trump are working to communicate with this community”.

“We share the belief that Biden’s failed Middle East policies have brought death, chaos and war to the region. That failure led tens of thousands of Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan’s Presidential primary.

The Trump campaign has and will continue to communicate to those voters and remind them that President Trump’s policies in the Middle East brought that region historic levels of peace and stability,” Mr Hughes said.

Just the beginning

Until the November election, Mr Boulos said he will continue to divide his time between managing his company and meeting with the Arab-American community.

He stressed that he is solely driven by being a “concerned citizen and a Republican”.

He has not contemplated a role in Trump's administration if the Republican were to win.

“I honestly don’t have any thoughts about that at this time. I didn’t give this any thought whatsoever, but definitely I do not aspire for anything,” he said.