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Around 40 Arab-American leaders in the key swing state of Michigan came together with two top Trumpworld figures as the presumptive Republican nominee and President Biden both seek its delegate prize in November.
The Trump campaign told Fox News Digital the meet-up — which featured Michael Boulos and former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell — was not organized by the campaign.
Boulos, son of Lebanese billionaire Massad Boulos, is married to Tiffany Trump. The elder Boulos was also in attendance, according to published reports.
The meeting took place at an Italian restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Troy, according to the Detroit Free Press, which counted Syrian-American physician Dr. Yahya Basha among its attendees.
Basha voted for Biden, donated to his 2020 bid and kept a photo of him in his office, but last week he helped organize Boulos and Grenell’s dinner instead, according to the paper, which quoted him as calling the meeting “positive” and a “first step in the right direction.”
Another attendee said Trump’s “Abraham Accords” Mideast peace deal was a noted topic of conversation and well-received by the group.
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VideoWhen asked about the meeting, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said that although it was not an official event, they will continue to communicate to Arab-American voters about Trump’s successes in the Middle East and policies that “brought that region historic levels of peace and stability.”
“We understand supporters of President Trump had a meeting in Michigan. While the meeting was not requested on behalf of the campaign, we share the belief that Biden’s failed Middle East policies have brought death, chaos and war to the region,” Brian Hughes, the campaign representative, told Fox News Digital.
“That failure led tens of thousands of Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan’s recent primary.”
Reports of another meeting on May 17 between Arab American groups and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Foggy Bottom “wasn’t positive,” according to the Detroit paper.
In a statement about the meeting obtained by New York City broadcaster NY1, Biden campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa called Trump the biggest threat to the Muslim and Arab community.”
VideoMoussa told the outlet Biden, by contrast, is “working tirelessly towards a just and lasting peace.”
Biden’s conundrum in Michigan was described earlier this year by Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., to Politico as “an impossible situation,” as the president tries to balance seeking support from moderate and union Democrats while not alienating progressives and the state’s large Muslim and Arab populations.
His headwinds from flipping the state back to the Democrats’ column in 2020 have been buffeted as of late by the more than 100,000 Democratic voters who voted “uncommitted” in the party’s February primary.
The president has been criticized by the state’s sizable Muslim population over his handling of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as prominent Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib — who is of Palestinian descent — branded him an “enabler of genocide” over the matter.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for official comment for purposes of this story.
Trump, meanwhile, seeks to win back the support of the Great Lakes state, a feat he accomplished in 2016 when he became the first Republican since George H.W. Bush to do so.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
