Donald Trump picks in-laws for important foreign policy positions

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President-elect Donald Trump has tapped two in-laws for foreign policy duties as he fills his new administration with loyalists.

Over the weekend, Trump named Massad Boulos senior adviser for the Middle East and appointed Charles Kushner as ambassador to France. Boulos is the father-in-law of daughter Tiffany, while Kushner is the father-in-law of eldest daughter Ivanka.

Kushner, a 70-year-old real estate executive, was a major donor to Trump’s 2024 campaign.

He also received a presidential pardon at the end of Trump’s first term after being convicted of multiple counts of tax evasion, campaign finance violations and witness tampering, for which he served time in prison. He was released in 2006.

Kushner’s nomination comes at a delicate time in U.S.-France relations. Trump has criticized European allies for not spending enough on their own defense, echoing a theme from his first term.

Trump’s appointment of Boulos, who will be the president’s senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, will plunge the Lebanese auto tycoon into fragile efforts to maintain a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Trump’s Middle East team includes real estate developer Steve Witkoff, whom Trump appointed special envoy to the region, and his nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

None of the people named have traditional diplomatic backgrounds, reflecting Trump’s penchant for promoting close friends and family to key positions.

“Massad is a dealmaker and a steadfast supporter of PEACE in the Middle East. “He will be a strong advocate for the United States and its interests, and I am excited to have him on our team!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Boulos, whose son Michael is married to Tiffany, spent most of the past year rallying support for Trump among Arab Americans in the battleground state of Michigan.

Boulos recently traveled to Washington to meet senior Lebanese officials as well as other diplomats and U.S. officials.

He was widely believed to be the next person to oversee Israel-Lebanon relations, taking over the matter from Amos Hochstein, senior adviser to President Joe Biden.

Hochstein informed several people close to Trump about the ceasefire effort, but Boulos did not, a person familiar with the matter said. Hochstein has been in contact with Witkoff, Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz and Jared Kushner, the person said.

Jared Kushner held several prominent positions in Trump’s first administration, particularly related to the Middle East, with Ivanka also serving as a senior adviser. Neither is expected to take on official roles this time.

Jared Kushner and Trump’s son Donald Jr. are also key transition advisers.

Born into a Christian family in Kfar Akka, Lebanon, Boulos moved to Texas as a teenager to attend the University of Houston. After graduating, Boulos joined his family’s automotive business in Nigeria and rose to head Scoa Motors and Boulos Enterprises, which dominate the Nigerian motorcycle and vehicle market.

He is known to have close ties to Lebanon’s Christian political class, including Suleiman Frangieh, a leading Christian politician and Hezbollah’s preferred candidate to fill the vacant presidential office.

Last week, the US announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a ceasefire, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The US-brokered ceasefire agreement calls for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli and Hezbollah troops from southern Lebanon over a period of 60 days. The Lebanese army and Unifil troops will be deployed extensively in the region, enforced through a US-led monitoring mechanism.

Additional reporting by Adrienne Klasa