Donald Trump announces he is expecting Lebanese-American grandchild

(This story has been updated to add more information and change the title.)

Former President Donald Trump’s comments Thursday that “the whole country will end up being like Detroit” if presidential rival Vice President Kamala Harris is elected made headlines — and a slogan on T-shirts.

But while some of Trump’s other remarks to the Detroit Economic Club, notably that his youngest daughter, Tiffany, is pregnant, also made news, they were also a subtle reminder that, in a tight race in Michigan, the vote Arab-American is important.

The proud father’s announcement that he has an 11th grandchild on the way highlighted, for those in the know, a family connection that the presidential candidate hopes will translate into some votes among Arab Americans in Michigan, a demographic Harris is also courting.

Some Harris supporters, however, have expressed concern that in a tight race, the vice president could lose if she does not take a more vocal stance against the escalation of violence in the Middle East and Israel’s fight against Iran and US-backed groups. Iran, like Hamas. in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, it could cost him his votes.

Tiffany Trump — the fourth child of the former president who has largely remained out of the political spotlight — is married to Michael Boulos, who was born in Lebanon, and Boulos’ father, Massad Boulos, has been leading an effort to generate support for Trump among Arab Americans. , especially the Democrats.

The pregnancy also means that Trump, who also met Thursday with some Islamic clerics from metro Detroit, is expecting a Lebanese-American grandchild.

All three — Tiffany, her husband and her father-in-law — as well as Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, were to meet Friday at the Renaissance Center Marriott in Detroit with other political figures for an event organized by the American Middle East Alliance for Trump .

Last month, Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib, an immigrant from Yemen, endorsed Donald Trump for president.

Hamtramck has the highest percentage of immigrants in Michigan and an all-Muslim city council, which could turn Hamtramck, which has historically voted Democratic, including President Joe Biden in 2020, into a supporter base for Trump. Ghalib met with Lara Trump on Friday in Detroit.

And in May, both Michael and Massad Boulos, along with dozens of other Arab-American and Middle Eastern leaders in Michigan, met with a former Donald Trump administration official, Richard Grenell, to discuss their frustrations with Biden at a restaurant. Italian in Troy.

Trump met in Detroit on Wednesday with Sheikh Belal Alzuhairy of the Islamic Center of Detroit and Sheikh Saleh Ibrahim of the Iman Islamic Complex in Detroit, which has a large Yemeni-American congregation. Both are religious leaders in their Detroit mosques. Other Yemeni-American groups and leaders have recently supported Trump, including the Yemeni PAC, the Yemeni American Political Action Committee (YAPAC) of Hamtramck and Detroit, and Dearborn community leader Samraa (Sam) Luqman.

Trump sparked controversy for comments he made last week at a rally in Pennsylvania, where he said some immigrants from Yemen were terrorists. Ghalib said Friday on his Facebook page that Trump has apologized for his comments and said he respects Yemeni-Americans.

Ghalib told the Free Press that Trump recorded a video for him that Ghalib posted on Facebook thanking people for supporting him.

“Mayor Ghalib, it was great being with you and I look forward to seeing you again soon,” Trump said in the video Ghalib posted. “I just want to say thank you for all your support. You guys have been fantastic. … The people of Yemen and all the people we’re talking about, let’s get the world fixed and the problems solved.”

Trump’s other daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism after reuniting with her husband Jared Kushner.

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Just this week, Harris said on CBS that diplomacy with Israel should continue.

And Harris — whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is also the first Jewish spouse of an American vice president and has stressed his Jewish identity on the presidential campaign — is trying to politically balance the concerns of pro-Israel voters and Arab-American groups.

Harris’ campaign also tried to reach out to Arab-American and Muslim communities. Among the efforts, Harris met with leaders of both groups earlier this month in Flint, and leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement greeted vice president and running mate Tim Walz before appearing at an August rally in Romulus. The campaign also started two WhatsApp channels – Muslims for Harris-Walz and Arab Americans for Harris-Walz – to send messages to members of these communities.

As for Trump’s comments on Thursday, businesspeople wasted no time turning his criticism of Detroit into a red t-shirt, which parodied his “Make America Great Again” slogan. It sells online for $26 and says “Make American Detroit Again” instead.

Boulos, Arab News reported, is “using his connections” and meeting with Arab-American leaders in Michigan who are disenchanted with Biden and Harris. And the Associated Press noted that Boulos has been “trying to convince a politically influential community” that “Trump is a better option.”

Still, it’s unclear how much that will help, given what Trump has also said recently and over the years, claiming to be more pro-Israel than Biden and Harris and making several comments that his critics have called Islamophobic.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].