Massad Boulos :
The Man Who Will Play Abraham and Mohammed
at Once

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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 Biden that Trump is a better option.

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

Trump has long put family members and their relatives in key roles in his campaigns and the White House.

Boulos, whose son Michael married Tiffany Trump two years ago, is the latest relative to rise in Trump’s political orbit as he uses long-standing connections in an effort to build support for the presumptive Republican nominee’s 2024 campaign.

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

Biden faced a significant protest vote during the Michigan primary February in areas with high numbers of Arab Americans, who are an important Democratic bloc.

“Obviously the No. 1 point that is of high priority within the Arab American community is the current war in the Middle East,”

Boulos said.

“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 Boulos also 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 criticized 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.”

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 obtaining a doctor of jurisprudence degree. Boulos said he actively participated in Republican politics as a student.

After graduating, he eventually joined his family’s business of three generations and became the managing 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 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.

#Boulos #Abraham #Mohammed #Trump #Lebanon #Gaza

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A supporter of Trump from afar since his first campaign, 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.

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 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, Bahbah said.

The group, which says it is independent of the Trump campaign, has established operations in Michigan and Arizona, states identified as priority areas by “people close to Trump,” Bahbah said.

A May meeting held in Troy, Michigan, included Massad and Michael Boulos as well as Richard Grenell, who was Trump’s ambassador to Germany and is a key foreign policy adviser to the former president. Approximately 40 Arab American activists from across the country attended.

While Arab Americans for Trump was involved in the event, Boulos said that it had primarily been initiated by Grenell. The gathering received mixed feedback, with some attendees saying it lacked substance and failed to address their concerns regarding Trump.

“Grenell didn’t say what they would do, but he kept reminding us that when Trump was president, there was no war whatsoever and that he launched the biggest peace effort in the Middle East.

But most Arabs and Muslims don’t consider the Abraham Accords a peace agreement,”

said Khaled Saffuri, an Arab American political activist who was in attendance.

Grenell tried to call Trump to have him address attendees by phone, according to multiple people at the meeting. The former president did not answer.

#Boulos #Abraham #Mohammed #Trump #Lebanon #Gaza

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Mohammed ben Salman Is Coaxing Trump Into the Total War Against Iran

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Saudi Arabia has urged the US to ramp up attacks on Iran, a Saudi intelligence source has confirmed, while it is weighing a decision on whether to join the fight directly.

The Saudi source confirmed reporting in the New York Times that said the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has urged Donald Trump not to cut short his war against Iran, and that the US-Israeli campaign represented a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East.

The intelligence source said Riyadh was not just calling for the military campaign to be continued, but to be intensified. Trump appeared to confirm the report about the crown prince’s role, telling journalists on Tuesday: “Yeah, he’s a warrior. He’s fighting with us.”

There are no reports of active Saudi military involvement in the nearly four-week-old war so far, but a Saudi political analyst said the kingdom would be likely to take that step if peace efforts led by Pakistan failed.

“What matters now is Iran’s decision,” Mohammed Alhamed, a Saudi geopolitical analyst, said.

“If Iran engages seriously, there is still a path to contain escalation. If it rejects the conditions and continues its attacks, the threshold for Saudi action will be crossed.”
Alhamed added that Saudi Arabia “is not reacting impulsively”.

“It is calibrating its response and preparing for a scenario where escalation, if it happens, will be deliberate and decisive,” he said, adding that Riyadh “has not been pushing for war.”

Saudi Arabia has come under attack from Iranian drones, as part of Tehran’s response to the US-Israeli attack on 28 February. One drone strike a week ago hit an oil refinery in Yanbu on Saudi Red Sea coast.

Saudi Arabia’s ability to transport its oil exports by pipeline to the Red Sea has meant it is not as vulnerable as its neighbours to Iran’s tactic of imposing a near-total blockade on oil tanker shipments leaving the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz.

The attack on Yanbu signalled an Iranian warning that it could also threaten that economic lifeline.

That threat would be multiplied if Iran’s allies in Yemen, the Houthi movement, joined the war with its own missile arsenal.

“I believe that Saudi Arabia still maintains cautious neutrality in the Iran-Israel-US war,” Hesham Alghannam, a Saudi defence expert told Agence France-Presse. But he added:

“If the Houthis strike Saudi assets, Riyadh may shift toward defensive coalition support or limited retaliation.”

#saudi #arabia #iran #mohammed #salman #trump

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Saudi Arabia and Iran, claiming leadership roles of the Sunni and Shia Islamic worlds respectively, have long been regional rivals.

According to a leaked US state department cable, the crown prince’s paternal uncle King Abdullah urged the US military in 2008 to “cut off the head of the snake”, a reference to the theocratic regime in Tehran.

Khalid Aljabri, a Saudi exile commentator, said in recent years the kingdom’s preference had been a negotiated solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes.

However, Trump and Netanyahu launched the joint attack in the midst of talks focused on nuclear limits.

“In this scenario, when the war occurs anyway and escalation is happening anyway, a partially degraded Iran, a wounded lion, would be more unpredictable and more dangerous. The policy was don’t start the war, but if you start it, finish the job,” said Aljabri, a US-based cardiologist who is the son of Saad.

The crown prince solidified his hold on power by cultivating a close relationship with Trump, but will now have to rethink Saudi reliance on the US for its security, observers have argued.

“MBS [Mohammed bin Salman] has lost the bet on all his investments over the last several years,” Ellie Geranmayeh, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations said.

“He financially invested in Trump and Trump’s family and his corporation and his White House, but at the end of the day the views of the Saudis and of the whole Gulf have been sidelined by the wishes of Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Prince Mohammed had begun to recalibrate his position after a missile attack on a Saudi oil facility in 2019, which Riyadh blamed on Iran.

The US, under the first Trump presidency, offered verbal support but did not carry out the reprisals the Saudis were demanding.

After the US refused to come to their defence, the Saudis pivoted to hug Iran close, in the hope it wouldn’t lash out against them in a conflict,” Geranmayeh said.

“Now the war has started and MBS lost the bet that Iran wouldn’t retaliate, he has reportedly urged the US to end the Iranian threat once and for all. So Saudi Arabia is now facing the conundrum of whether to get more involved.”

The United Arab Emirates has seen its oil exports comprehensively blocked and has openly called for a decisive military defeat of Iran. The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday:

“A simple ceasefire isn’t enough. We need a conclusive outcome that addresses Iran’s full range of threats.”

Saudi Arabia, with its Red Sea export option, still has something to lose and has not overtly called for more bombing.

Its active military participation could bring forth a more punishing Iranian response targeting its Red Sea oil pipeline, quite possibly in collaboration with the Houthis.

“Once the bombs stop falling there will be some deep thinking in Riyadh,” Geranmayeh said. “It is not about pushing the US away but about having more options.”

#saudi #arabia #iran #mohammed #salman #trump

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