While many of the people who appeared on stage during President-elect Donald Trump’s victory speech in the early hours of Nov. 6 were familiar faces, one man, standing next to Tiffany Trump, was not.
Michael Boulos, the son of the Lebanese billionaire and Trump new senior advisor for Middle East affairsMassad Boulos, and the husband of Trump’s youngest daughter, stood cautiously to the president-elect’s right as America looked on.
While the presence of Boulos – part of Trump’s successful coalition-building efforts — may have gone unnoticed by many viewers, but for Arab Americans like Yahya Basha, a Syrian-American doctor who runs several medical facilities in Detroit, it was a watershed moment.
In September, Basha met with Trump and Boulos during one of the president-elect’s many campaign trips to Michigan.
“I felt they were serious and wanted to do business and communicate and partner on these issues,” Basha says of his engagement with Trump and Boulos. “If you’re out, you don’t count. You must stay in the battle.
Twenty years after the peak of animosity and prejudice that followed September 11, Arab Americans today find themselves integrated into civil society. American politics like never before and – ironically given his nationalism – the process is being driven by Trump.
On November 22, Trump nominated Janette Nesheiwat, the daughter of Jordanian Christian immigrants and a Fox News contributor, to the post of US surgeon general, and Marty Makary, a Lebanese-born British-American doctor who also contributes to Fox News, to the post. as Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Alina Habba, Trump’s Iraqi American lawyer and advisor, is another prominent face in Trump’s entourage. During his previous administration Marc Esper And Alex Azarboth of Lebanese origin, held management positions.
Many Arab Americans, especially older generations who fled Middle Eastern dictatorships, feel this is the first time such important voices have been heard in a political context – despite Trump’s threats and his history which saw it ban travel to many countries. majority Muslim country under his previous administration.
While many Arab Americans say they are forced to look beyond Trump’s previous actions given the Biden administration’s failure to end Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, others believe the The president-elect’s overtures towards figures in their community are authentic.
While the Democrats refused to authorize A Palestinian-American speaker at their August convention a month earlier at the Republican’s equivalent event, Habba was strategically assigned a spot in the coveted Thursday evening session, where she spoke about to be a “proud first generation Arab American women”.
Part of Trump’s outreach to Arab Americans has focused on connecting with Christian elements within the broader community, rather than Muslim elements.
Boulos, Habba, Azar and Esper are Maronite, Chaldean or Greek Orthodox Christians.
“(The Arab-American and Chaldean communities) needed one of their own – someone of their own who was in politics,” says Casey Askar, a Chaldean businessman who was recruited by Trump from July 2023 to dialogue with the Chaldeans in politics. Michigan. Askar estimates that 80 percent of Chaldean voters in Michigan — many of whom do not identify as ethnically Arab but celebrate their own distinct heritage within the Arab world — supported Trump in last month’s election.
“Because the Chaldeans did not come from a democratic world and did not have opportunities for democracy or freedom of speech, they did not engage in politics,” he says.
“But in 2016, the Chaldeans really went to vote. And they generally voted for Trump and Republican candidates.” He says that since the majority of Chaldean households in southeast Michigan, where the community is estimated to number nearly 200,000, own or run their own businesses, there is an attraction to Trump and Republicans.
After a decline in 2020, he says the Chaldean vote helped Trump win Michigan last month, where he beat Kamala Harris by 80,000 votes.
“Historically, the Democratic Party was the party of immigrants and minorities. I know this because when my family arrived, I think they were more Democratic leaning. If you look at the Catholic vote as a whole, it was mostly Democratic“, he said.
“But the party has changed. There is so much hypocrisy. They took enlightenment too far, which alienated many people.
It’s a view shared by Basha, who is not Christian and has donated to the election campaigns of Democrats including Joe Biden, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other candidates backed by the Israel lobby .
“I had a great relationship with (the Democrats); I’ve been to the White House several times,” he says.
But last year, he said he felt offended during a call with Michigan donors hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
after newsletter promotion
“I was not allowed to speak during the call. I raised my hand, but I was not given the floor to speak while others did,” he said. “Democrats have become so complacent. I think Arab Americans have been treated as insignificant partners in the Democratic Party since the Obama administration.”
Although he donated thousands of dollars to Trump’s first opponent, Hillary Clinton, in 2016, he says that this time when Harris’ campaign contacted him for a donation, he declined.
“I told them: I’m committed to Trump.”
Trump’s efforts to build a coalition among elements of the Arab-American community have in part inspired many people to run — and win as Republicans — at different political levels across the United States.
Amer Ghalib, the Democratic Yemeni American mayor of the predominantly Muslim town of Hamtramck in Michigan, made headlines by supporting and campaigning with Trump in October.
The shift to the Republican Party isn’t limited to Michigan, either.
Last month, Abe Hamadeh, a 33-year-old lawyer and former Army reservist with little political experience, was elected to Arizona’s Eighth Congressional District, defeating a Democrat in an open race. Endorsed by Trump and Kari Lake, Arizona Brandonand the son of Syrian immigrants, photos from Hamadeh’s campaign site show him drawing on his military and Middle Eastern background.
For many Arab Americans, the messages conveyed by Republicans resonate.
Samra’a Luqman, a Yemeni American from Dearborn, Michigan, campaigned on Trump’s behalf and voted for him because “you can’t reward genocide with a second term,” referring to Trump’s support Biden administration to Israel’s war on Gaza, where more than 44,000 people have been killed. were killed.
But a second reason for abandoning the Democratic Party had to do with its and other more conservative social values.
Luqman, who still considers himself a Democrat, was among the parents who spoke out sexually explicit content in Dearborn school textbooks in 2022.
“The story of this election does not begin on October 7 (when Hamas attacked Israel). It started in 2022 and the community felt betrayed by their own (Democratic) party,” she said.
“It’s unfortunate, but as soon as the (Arab American) community declared itself in disagreement with the policies adopted by the Democratic Party, it was ostracized and presented in a negative light. This betrayal triggered the shift toward the Republican Party.”
Basha says he is fully aware of the dangers that the second Trump administration could pose to the Arab world, particularly for Palestinians who suffer in appalling conditions as Israel continues to attack Gaza. Trump – and many of his cabinet picks – are strong supporters of Israel and the actions of its military. Trump also promised to reinstate travel bans on Muslim-majority countries, which he said is “definitely a concern.”
“It’s better to be at the table than at the door,” he said.
“I want to see what we can participate in, establish a positive vision (of Arab Americans) and negotiate on local, national and international issues.”