‘Lebanese’ Massad Boulos Trump's man to negotiate Middle East peace
The president-elect appoints the Lebanese-American as advisor for the region. He was the main architect of the victory in the ‘swing states’. For the Tycoon he is a ‘good negotiator’ and an ‘unwavering supporter’ of peace, but at the same time he is considered an ‘ardent defender of the United States and its interests’.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - The Lebanese, for the most part, are in seventh heaven over the appointment of one of their representatives to President-elect Donald Trump's team, which he himself made over the weekend that has just ended: it is the American-Lebanese businessman Massad Boulos, father of one of the sons-in-law of the next occupant of the White House, architect of the victory in the ‘swing States’ and called to serve as advisor for the Middle East.
This appointment comes just days after the 27 November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. ‘The two presidential administrations worked together on this agreement,’he told LBCI on 1 December, before extinguishing hopes that a new head of state would be elected during the voting session scheduled for 7 January fixed by House Speaker Nabih Berry. ‘Those who waited two years can wait another two months,’ he added, suggesting that it would be preferable for the election to take place after the new head of the White House takes office, while the Lebanese presidential seat has been vacant since 31 October 2022.
Skilled negotiator
‘Massad is a good negotiator and a steadfast advocate for peace in the Middle East,’ the US president-elect wrote in announcing the news, while Israel's war in Gaza has been blooding the region for more than a year. ‘He will be a staunch defender of the United States and its interests,’ he added.
Massad Boulos, 54, is a Maronite Christian from the village of Kfar Aqqa, in the Qaḍāʾ [a second-tier administrative subdivision in Iraq and Lebanon, ed] of Koura in northern Lebanon . Born into a family that has been involved in politics for over a century, he graduated in international law from the University of Houston. He regularly visits the Land of the Cedars, where his mother and brother Philippe, a businessman involved in the restaurant business, still live and where he owns a villa.
In the past, Boulos made his fortune selling cars in Nigeria. Today he also runs a dozen companies in the United States, registered in Washington State. He has Lebanese, Nigerian, French and American nationality. In 2009, he attempted to run in the general election in his home constituency, before withdrawing from the race.
The connection with Trump
The marriage in 2022 of his son Michael Boulos to one of Donald Trump's daughters, Tiffany, has propelled him into the inner circle of the billionaire who has just been elected for a second - non-consecutive - term as President of the United States. The trump card in this modern fairy tale is that Tiffany Trump is currently expecting a baby boy and that this Lebanese-born child will be the grandson of the US president.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lebanese Economy Minister Amine Salam congratulated Boulos on his appointment, saying that he has ‘built trusting relationships and bridges between the Arab community and President Trump,’ writes L'Orient-Le Jour. Salam called for ‘seizing the historic opportunity’ represented by Massad Boulos' position alongside the 47th US president, saying that the Lebanese and the Arab world “have never been closer than today to the White House and the decision-making centre”.
Hezbollah and Iran
As evidenced by the ceasefire decision in Lebanon, Massad Boulos shares President Trump's stated aspiration to ‘end the wars’. He is said to be very close to all Lebanese communities and does not take extreme positions towards the various political parties. 'He is in favour of the unity of Lebanon and against federalism. He is in favour of dialogue between all Lebanese. He has no militia spirit,' says a source in the Free Patriotic Movement (CLP), to which he was once very close, quoted in the French-speaking press.
Speaking of Hezbollah, Boulos said that there is no problem with ‘individual and medium-sized weapons’ for all Lebanese, but rather ‘with strategic weapons’. He then insisted that the Trump administration intends to work on a new nuclear deal with Iran that is ‘acceptable’ to the US, its neighbours and the Islamic Republic.
During the presidential campaign, the next occupant of the White House repeatedly stated that he would end the conflict between Israel and Hamas, without ever revealing a plan to do so. In an interview with Sky News in October, Boulos explained that the Jewish state ‘has military objectives to achieve, which is to get rid of Hamas's infrastructure and its ability to launch new attacks’. However, he concluded, ‘it must do so very quickly [... because] this cannot go on indefinitely’.
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