Trump chooses Massad Boulos, father-in-law of daughter Tiffany, as senior Middle East adviser
For the second time in as many days, President-elect Donald Trump announced he was choosing another family member for his administration, choosing his daughter Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law as his senior adviser for the Middle East, a day after choosing his son-in-law. Jared Kushner’s father will be ambassador to France.
Billionaire businessman Massad Boulos, father of Trump’s son-in-law Michael Boulos, will serve as senior White House adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs, according to Trump. announcement on his social media platform Truth. Born in Lebanon, Massad Boulos runs Boulos Enterprises, based in Nigeria, which produces and distributes mechanical equipment and motorcycles.
“Massad is an accomplished lawyer and highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international stage,” Trump wrote. “He is a long-time defender of Republican and conservative values, an asset to my campaign, and has been instrumental in building great new coalitions with the Arab American community.”
MANHATTAN, NY – SEPTEMBER 4: Dr. Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Tiffany Trump, sits for a portrait at the Wall Street Hotel in New York on September 4, 2024. (Photo by Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post via Getty Im
Trump added: “Massad is a negotiator and steadfast supporter of PEACE in the Middle East. He will be a strong advocate for the United States and its interests, and I am happy to have him on our team.
During the latter part of Trump’s victorious presidential campaign, Boulos appeared with him at campaign stops in Dearborn, Michigan, an Arab-American stronghold, and was praised by Trump for helping him make move Michigan from blue to red.
“Obviously, the No. 1 item that is of high priority within the Arab-American community is the current war in the Middle East,” Boulos said. The Associated Press in June. “And the question is: who can bring peace and who brings war? And they know the answer to that question.”
In September, Boulos met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, on The New York Times reported. Palestinian officials told the Times that the meeting was part of an outreach effort to Trump, but Boulos told the newspaper that it was “purely personal” and that he had not informed Trump about it before or after .
Boulos also has close contacts in Lebanese politics and ran unsuccessfully in 2018 for a seat in the Lebanese Parliament.
As a youth, Boulos moved to Texas, where he earned a doctorate in jurisprudence from the University of Houston. After earning his law degree, he joined the family business and became CEO.
Michael Boulos and Tiffany Trump, Trump’s daughter and his second wife, Marla Maples, were married in November 2022 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. While campaigning in Detroit in October, Donald Trump announced that the couple was expecting their first child.
In this file photo, Charles Kushner arrives at Ivana Trump’s funeral in New York on July 20, 2022.
John Minchillo/AP
The announcement of Boulos’ appointment as senior White House adviser came a day after Trump chose billionaire real estate developer Charles Kushner as ambassador to France. Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who served as a senior White House adviser during Trump’s first term as president.
Jared Kushner is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka.
Charles Kushner pleaded guilty in March 2005 to helping file false tax returns, retaliating against a cooperating witness and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
Trump granted Kushner a pardon in December 2020.
