Who is the Lebanese billionaire who helped put Donald Trump in the White House?

Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-born businessman, has acted as one of Donald Trump's key emissaries to the Arab American community during the 2024 election cycle, with a mission to secure their support for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign as they moved away from the Democratic Party mainly over the war in Gaza and Lebanon.

Boulos, a billionaire with extensive business ties in Nigeria, joined Trump's inner circle through family connections; his son, Michael Boulos, married Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's youngest daughter, in 2022.

Boulos was born in Lebanon and moved to Texas as a teenager, where he attended the University of Houston, eventually earning a law degree.

After completing his education, Boulos returned to his family's business and took over as CEO of SCOA Nigeria, a billion-dollar conglomerate specialising in the distribution of motor vehicles and equipment across West Africa.

Role in US politics

Boulos is no stranger to politics having previously ran for a parliamentary seat in Lebanon in 2009. He reportedly maintains connections with influential Lebanese figures, including Christian politician Sleiman Frangieh, an ally of Hezbollah.

However, his entry into American politics began following his son's relationship with Tiffany Trump, which eventually led to his closer involvement with the Trump family.

Boulos's political reach has focused on mobilising Arab American voters, particularly those dissatisfied with the Biden-Harris administration's stance on Israel's genocide in Gaza and war on Lebanon with protests and significant opposition voiced in key states like Michigan. By all accounts, this was a key cause for Kamala Harris losing Michigan, a key swing state.

Boulos and other Trump allies' sales pitch to the community was claiming that Trump's approach presented a better alternative, someone who would prioritise stability and avoid further Middle Eastern conflicts. 

Critics have long disputed this claim, given that during his previous term, Trump made several unprecedented moves in support of Israel's illegal settlements and occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories, including relocating the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognising Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, while brokering the controversial Abraham Accords with several Arab nations that sought to sidestep the Palestinian question completely.

Many even argue that the Abraham Accords led to the events of 7 October and the subsequent Israeli wars in the region.

Outreach to Arab Americans

But with the Biden-Harris administration continuing Trump's policies and Kamala Harris failing to engage the Arab and Muslim communities, many shifted away from the Democrats towards third-party candidates like Jill Stein and even Donald Trump himself.

Boulos helped take advantage of this disillusionment, helping Trump tap into his longstanding connections within the Arab American community.

He also actively engaged with Lebanese media to communicate the messages of Trump's presidential campaign. In an interview with Lebanon's LBCI News, Boulos discussed his role as Trump's Coordinator of Arab Relations, outlining strategies to attract Arab American voters.

"Regarding convincing Arab and Muslim voters, the tragic situation in Gaza is, of course, a top priority for Arab and Muslim voters today," he told the outlet.

"President Trump, during his four years in office, was the only president in modern US history who did not start any wars; he ended wars and withdrew American troops, especially from the Middle East and other regions like Afghanistan," he added, highlighting that Biden's administration was unable to reach a ceasefire over one year since the war began.

Speaking in Arabic during an interview with Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya, Boulos emphasised Trump's alleged open-mindedness towards Arabs and Muslims, disputing accusations of Trump's anti-Arab bias, and highlighted the alignment of Arab and Muslim American conservative values with the Republican Party.

Boulos also addressed concerns about Trump's past policies, such as the Muslim travel ban, trying to reshape the narrative within Arab communities.

On the Lebanon-Israel conflict, Boulos had stated that if Trump wins the election on Tuesday, he would "act immediately to end the war in Lebanon and won't wait until his inauguration in January". However, critics point out that Trump never explained how he would do that, and accused him of making empty promises to win votes. Trump was also accused of anti-Palestinian racism by using the word 'Palestinian' as a slur during the first debate with Joe Biden.

Trump also threatened to deport pro-Palestinian protesters as "supporters of Hamas", reinforcing the sentiment among many Arab and Muslim Americans that Trump cannot be trusted on the Middle East. However, the events of Election Day proved many of them were still willing to vote Trump to punish the Democrats, a kind of protest vote rather than a reflection of trust in Trump.

The impact on the 2024 race

Utimately, Boulos's influence was part of a broader strategy by Trump's campaign to exploit divisions within the Democratic base.

Trump's team is acutely aware of the protest vote that Biden (and now Harris) encountered among Arab Americans, particularly in states like Michigan, where this community wields significant political influence.

Boulos, through private fundraisers and public engagements, has argued that a vote away from Harris, for example to Jill Stein, indirectly supports Trump's return to the White House, a message designed to resonate amid Arab American frustration with US foreign policy. And reports suggest the Trump campaign was contributing funds to the Stein campaign as well as running cynical ads targeting Arab Americans targeting Harris' poor record on Gaza.

And it seems to have paid off.