Massad Boulos (Arabic: مسعد بولس; born 1971) is a Lebanese-American businessman and political associate of Donald Trump.[3] He is the father of Michael Boulos and the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany. He supported Trump's successful presidential campaign in the 2024 United States presidential election, and canvassed for the support of Arab Americans, particularly in Michigan.[3][4]
Massad Boulos | |
|---|---|
مسعد بولس | |
 Boulos in 2024 | |
| Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs | |
Designate | |
| Assuming office January 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump (elect) |
| Succeeding | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 52–53)[1] Kfaraakka, Koura District, Lebanon |
| Citizenship | Lebanon Nigeria France United States |
| Political party | Republican[2] |
| Spouse | Sarah Fadoul Boulos |
| Children | 4; including Michael and Fares |
| Relatives | Tiffany Trump (daughter-in-law) |
| Education | University of Houston-Downtown |
Boulos sells trucks at a small company owned by his father-in-law Michel Zouhair Fadoul in Nigeria. He rose to prominence in 2018 when his son began to date Tiffany Trump. In December 2024, Trump designated Boulos his Middle East advisor.[5][6]
Early life
editBoulos was born to a Greek Orthodox family in Kfaraakka, Koura, Lebanon (his surname meaning the apostle "Paul" in Arabic).[7][8] Both his father and grandfather were figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement.[9]
He moved to Texas as a teenager.[5] He graduated in 1993 from University of Houston-Downtown with a bachelor of business administration degree.[5][6] He was described (by Donald Trump) as "an accomplished lawyer" having obtained a law degree from the University of Houston, but the university has no record of it.[5][6] No public evidence has been found that Boulos is licensed as a lawyer in any of the countries where he has claimed to be a citizen: United States, Nigeria, Lebanon, or France.[6]
Career
editIn business
editAfter completing his education, Boulos moved to Nigeria to work for a company his father-in-law owned.[5] SCOA Nigeria PLC is a small trucking and heavy machinery dealership. Its shares trade for about two Nigerian naira, roughly a tenth of a US cent, a penny stock with a market capitalization worth about $865,000 as of 2024.[5][6] Boulos’s personal stake is worth just $1.53 according to the company's latest annual report[5] (which is partly printed in Comic Sans).[6] Following Trump's announcement that he would appoint Boulos as a presidential advisor (see § US politics), he was "reported to have significant discrepancies between his public profile and documented business background".[10] When asked by the New York Times to confirm the multibillion-dollar valuation of Boulos Enterprises, he did so, but he later claimed he did not mean that he was actually associated with or owned Boulos Enterprises, and that he did not correct the reporter's impression because he "made a practice of not commenting on his businesses"; Boulos Enterprises is owned by another family of the same surname.[5][6]
Lebanese politics
editBoulos has links to Christian politicians and parties in Lebanon, including Suleiman Frangieh and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) both of which are Christian allies of Hezbollah but maintained talks with opposition parties like the Lebanese Forces.[9][11] According to Aron Lund, quoting a report in As-Safir, Boulos began his political career as an ally of Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, and represented it in Nigeria, where Boulos did business.[7] Boulos remained allied to Aoun after he agreed an alliance with Hezbollah.[7] Boulos initially stood for parliament in Koura, but withdrew for another list involving the FPM, Marada (Frangieh's party), and the communists.[7] In 2009, the FPM shortlisted him, but Aoun eventually chose another candidate.[7] By 2018, he was a supporter of Frangieh's Marada.[7] Aron Lund, an analyst at the Century Foundation, writes that his career "does not exactly indicate a firm commitment to either side in Lebanese or regional politics", and that his appointment suggests that Trump's Middle East policy "will often be more readily understood in light of the personalities orbiting Mar-a-Lago [a Trump-owned resort] than through an ideological prism or in terms of U.S. national interest."[7]
US politics
editDuring the 2024 US presidential elections, Boulos campaigned for Trump in Muslim and Arab communities with Bishara Bahbah, who founded Arabs for Trump, and Richard Grenell. He sought to portray Trump as supportive of "global peace", according to Bahbah.[1]
Boulos has acted as an intermediary between the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas and Trump.[12]
In December 2024 Boulos told Le Point that the 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement, including the requirement that Hezbollah should disarm, applied to the whole of Lebanon, not just areas south of the Litani river.[13]
Personal life
editBoulos holds Lebanese, Nigerian, French and American citizenship.[1]
He married Sarah Fadoul Boulos,[6] who was born in Burkina Faso.[14] Circa 1986, she lived in Houston, Texas, and was a student at Houston Baptist University until 1996,[15] then moved to Lagos, Nigeria.[14] She is a dance instructor who in 2005 founded the aspirationally named Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria as a tiny studio in her garage.[14][15] More recently, she has been a franchisee of Creative Education International (CrEd) Lagos Island. As of 2020, she worked at La Pointe Delicatessen in Victoria Island, Lagos.[15]
Together they have four children.[15][16] In 2022, their son Michael married Tiffany Trump, daughter of Donald Trump.[7] Another son, Fares, is an actor who played a brief non-speaking role in The Crown.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c Hayek, Caroline; Mardam Bey, Soulayma; Braidy, Nour (11 November 2024). "Lebanon's Massad Boulos: Trump's new Middle East insider?". L'Orient Today.
- ^ "The Lebanese-American businessman in Donald Trump's inner circle". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ a b Swanson, Ian (1 December 2024). "Tiffany Trump's father-in-law Massad Boulos to become senior presidential adviser on Arab affairs". The Hill. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Shalal, Andrea (November 16, 2024). "Trump's pro-Israel cabinet picks upset Muslims who voted for him". Reuters. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Maclean, Ruth; Scheck, Justin; Homans, Charles; Olawoyin, Oladeinde (December 12, 2024). "Trump's Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman". New York Times. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Newsham, Jack (December 13, 2024). "Massad Boulos, hailed as a billionaire lawyer advising Trump on Middle East policy, probably isn't a lawyer or a billionaire". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lund, Aron (20 November 2024). "Trump's Would-Be Lebanon Whisperer". The Century Foundation.
- ^ a b Andrews, Farah. "Who is Michael Boulos? Tiffany Trump's Lebanese husband". The National. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
- ^ a b "Trump picks Massad Boulos to serve as adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern affairs". L'Orient Today. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Gedeon, Joseph (2024-12-12). "Questions dog Trump pick for Middle East adviser with inconsistent résumé". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
- ^ Magid, Jacob; Reuters (1 December 2024). "Trump announces Massad Boulos as senior adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs". Times of Israel. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ Rasgon, Adasm; Homans, Charles (10 November 2024). "Palestinians Try to Sway Trump, Reaching Out to Tiffany Trump's Relative". New York Times.
- ^ "Militia disarmament includes "all of Lebanon" in ceasefire deal: Trump Mideast adviser". The New Arab. 4 December 2024.
- ^ a b c Ojoye, Taiwo (November 4, 2017). "Reason I created performing arts society –Sarah Boulos". Punch Nigeria Limited. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
- ^ a b c d Portee, Ally (December 1, 2020). "Sarah Boulos Opens Up About Faith And Her Performing Arts Society In Lagos". SEELE Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-13.
- ^ Chika (2024-10-11). "Mum Of The Month: Performing Arts Mogul Sarah Boulos". LagosMums. Retrieved 2024-12-02.