Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post via Getty Images
As President-elect Donald Trump continues to craft his second-term agenda, he announced a key advisor on Sunday that could impact his handling of affairs in the Middle East.
By tapping Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos as his senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, Trump is bringing on board a key campaign surrogate whose son Michael is also married to his daughter Tiffany.
The president-elect — who was able to exploit Democratic divisions over the war in Gaza and pry away some Muslim and Arab American voters from Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election — reaffirmed on Sunday that he wants to form "tremendous new coalitions" with Arab Americans.
"Massad is a dealmaker, and an unwavering supporter of PEACE in the Middle East," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "He will be a strong advocate for the United States, and its interests, and I am pleased to have him on our team!"
Trump's selection of Boulos is a signal that he'll seek his own diplomatic imprint in the Middle East, which for over a year has seen the war in Gaza become one of the most devastating and polarizing ongoing conflicts in the world, reverberating in Lebanon, Yemen, and now Syria.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to The Associated Press.
President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict was a significant issue in the US presidential race, with Harris pledging that she and the president were working hard for a cease-fire agreement. But the conflict likely chipped away at Harris' Arab American support, as well as that of some progressive Democrats who had long opposed both the war and American military aid to Israel.
During the 2024 campaign, Boulos traveled throughout Michigan to promote Trump's candidacy among Arab American and Muslim voters, The New York Times reported.
"We don't have to win over everybody," Boulos told the newspaper shortly before the election. "There are some that strongly believe that they wouldn't vote for either of the major candidates. That's fine with us."
Trump went on to flip Michigan, part of the Democratic Party's all-important "blue wall," by a narrow margin — which cut off Harris' clearest path to the White House.
Boulos isn't the only family member who'll have a role in the administration beginning next year.
Trump on Saturday announced that he had selected Charles Kushner, the real estate developer and father of son-in-law Jared Kushner, as his next US ambassador to France.
Ivanka Trump, a senior advisor in Trump's first term, is not expected to be a part of the second administration.
