US President-elect Donald Trump suddenly announced on Sunday that he had appointed American-Lebanese businessman Massad Boulos as his advisor on Middle East affairs. Le Point magazine was able to contact him to provide his analysis of the major crises shaking the Middle East region in an interview that Armen Al-Arifi summarized for the magazine.
Before getting into the core of the interview, the French magazine reported that Massad Boulos (53 years old) is a Republican who made his fortune selling cars in Nigeria. He was pushed into Trump’s inner circle because he is the father of Michael Boulos, one of the US President’s in-laws, who married Tiffany Trump in 2022. Daughters of the president-elect.
Paul expressed his honor for the appointment and for being part of the Trump team, but at the same time he pointed out that working in a region that has been suffering for some time is a great responsibility, and he explained that his vision is to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East, and that he has 4 years in which he hopes to achieve something sustainable. For the future and future generations.
The advisor noted the agreement concluded a week ago between Lebanon and Israel with the contribution of the United States and France, and said that it is very comprehensive and covers all necessary points, and deals with the entire country, with the disarmament of all armed groups, militias and paramilitary groups.
Lebanon and Hezbollah’s weapons
When asked about Hezbollah’s right to possess weapons and how to disarm them in reality, Trump’s father-in-law said that 70% of the strategic weapons, missile depots and drones were destroyed during the war, and that the Lebanese army is the one who must disarm the militias and paramilitary groups.
Boulos explained that the ceasefire agreement gives the Lebanese army complete freedom to begin implementation, and according to the text, it also assumes responsibility for controlling the flow of weapons coming from the Syrian border, Beirut airport, and the capital’s port, all of which are now under its control.
The American advisor was not surprised by the violations committed by the Israeli army of the agreement, and said that the other party is doing the same thing, and there is a 60-day testing period, and that the agreement speaks about the right of each party to defend itself.
Boulos believed that what is important in this agreement is the monitoring committee responsible for its implementation, and that the United States and France must verify that all its details are actually implemented, pointing out that the implementation of Resolution 1701 was not implemented at all when it was adopted in 2006, because there was no mechanism to guarantee its implementation. This is a bug that has been fixed under this agreement.
Boulos did not express a desire to rush to elect a president for Lebanon despite two years having passed since the crisis. Rather, he said that representatives could wait two or three months until the matter was completed as part of a comprehensive deal.
The Chancellor did not express a desire to speed up the election of a president for Lebanon despite the passage of two years since the crisis, and he said that the representatives could wait two or three months until the matter was completed as part of a comprehensive deal, which includes all the necessary reforms to rebuild Lebanon and its judicial and security institutions, respect for democracy and the Lebanese constitution, as well as implementing The ceasefire agreement, creating a certain vision for the Council of Ministers, and ensuring the representation of the opposition, which today constitutes nearly half of Parliament.
Massad Boulos refused to give his opinion on what the United States wants regarding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and said that the matter is very complicated in Syria because events are taking place very quickly and can change from one hour to another, stressing that Turkey, Russia, the United States and other countries in the region, including Iran, She will have roles to play, preferring not to go into details at the present time.
When asked about the warning that Trump gave to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza to release the Israeli detainees, Musaad Boulos said that the president had become clear to him that there was no longer any reason to delay the release of the detainees because the war had practically ended, and therefore Trump believed that the detainees should be released immediately. Their fate should not be linked to other issues related to the next day in Gaza.
Priority to the Abraham Accords
When asked about linking the issue of hostages to the ceasefire in Gaza, the advisor said that there would be a temporary ceasefire to release the detainees, explaining that the main lines of the agreement had already been determined and only very small details remained regarding a small number of names and the number of Palestinians released, And the period within which exchange operations must take place.
While confirming that the guns actually fell silent in Gaza, the American advisor admits that northern Gaza is still completely besieged by the Israeli army, stressing that the agreement falls within the framework of a temporary ceasefire.
When asked about the possibility of the Trump administration supporting Israel’s complete and simple annexation of the West Bank, Massad Boulos said, President Trump has not yet addressed these issues publicly, and said, “What I can tell you is that as of January 20, there will be a very clear and precise policy on… This issue, and we must all respect it.”
Paul announced Washington’s readiness to conduct serious negotiations with the current Iranian regime regarding three important points in his view: preventing the possession of nuclear capabilities at all, the issue of ballistic missiles, and finally Iran’s agents in the region, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, or Yemen.
Regarding the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state, Trump’s advisor said that the road map that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state represents an important part of the discussions between the United States and Saudi Arabia, adding that the plan proposed by Trump in 2020 (the deal of the century) spoke very clearly about a state. Possible Palestinian.
Today – Kamal the advisor says – the president’s priority is to resume discussions on the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia first, because once an agreement is reached with it, there will be at least 12 Arab countries immediately ready to follow suit.
As for Iran, Massad Boulos says that Trump is clear that he absolutely does not want Tehran to have a nuclear program, and he will exert “maximum pressure” on it, and this has already begun, and Iran has already begun to change its policies in the region, and we have seen that in the agreement. Which was concluded in Lebanon, and we observe it today in Syria.
Trump did not talk about regime change, and declared his readiness to conduct serious negotiations with the current regime regarding three important points in his view: preventing the possession of nuclear capabilities at all, the issue of ballistic missiles, and finally Iran’s agents in the region, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, or Yemen.