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Donald Trump announces he is expecting a Lebanese American grandson

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Donald Trump announces he is expecting a Lebanese American grandson

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

Former President Donald Trump’s comments Thursday that “the whole country is going to end up like Detroit” if Vice President Kamala Harris, a rival for the presidency, is elected made headlines and a T-shirt slogan.

But while some of Trump’s other remarks at the Detroit Economic Club, mainly that his young daughter Tiffany is pregnant, also made news, it was also a subtle reminder that in a close race in Michigan, the Arab vote -American is important.

Proud father Trump’s announcement that he has an 11th grandchild on the way highlighted a who-knows-what 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 close race, the vice president could lose if she does not take a clearer stance against escalating violence in the Middle East and Israel’s fight against ‘Iran and groups supported by Iran such as Hamas. in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, could cost him votes.

Tiffany Trump, the former president’s fourth child who has largely stayed 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 build Trump’s support among Arab Americans. , especially Democrats.

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

All three, Tiffany, her husband and father-in-law, as well as Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, were due to meet at the Renaissance Center Marriott in Detroit on Friday 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 a Muslim city council, which could turn Hamtramck, which has historically voted for Democrats, including President Joe Biden in 2020, into a base of support 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 former Donald Trump administration official Richard Grenell to discuss the his frustrations with Biden at an Italian restaurant in Troy.

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

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

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

“Mayor Ghalib, it was great to be with you and I hope to see you again soon,” Trump said in the video Ghalib posted. “I just want to say thank you for all your support. You’ve been fantastic… The people of Yemen and all the people we’re talking about, we’re going to get the world sorted and the problems sorted. .”

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

More: 43-foot nude sculpture of Trump rises in Detroit, turns heads and elicits laughter

As recently as this week, Harris told CBS that diplomacy with Israel should continue.

And Harris, whose husband, Doug Emhoff, is also the first Jewish spouse of a US vice president and has emphasized his Jewish identity in the presidential campaign, is trying to politically balance the concerns of pro-Israel voters and Arab groups americans

The Harris campaign has also sought to reach out to the 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 a rally in August in Romulus. The campaign has 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 Thursday, businessmen wasted no time turning his Detroit comment into a red shirt, parodying his “Make America Great Again” slogan. It sells online for $26 and says instead, “Make American Detroit Again.”

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 choice.”

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 criticized as Islamophobes.

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

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