PA President Abbas reportedly seeks to strengthen Trump ties through daughter Tiffany's US-Lebanese in-laws

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly seeking closer ties with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump by cultivating a connection with the American-Lebanese inlaws of Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany.

Lebanese-born billionaire Massad Boulos, Tiffany's father-in-law, is a close Trump ally and reportedly played a key role in convincing a large number of Arab Americans to cast their votes for Trump in the recent U.S. presidential election. There are speculations that Boulos could potentially replace the Biden administration’s Lebanon point man, Amos Hochstein.

"The transition has begun, it hasn’t even been 48 hours, so these details about specific [Trump administration] appointments are not yet clear...it’s a bit too soon for that. But hopefully, in the coming days and weeks, everything will become clearer, and we can make announcements," Boulos stated while neither confirming nor denying the diplomatic rumors about his potential appointment.

Abbas reportedly met with Boulos at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. At the time, PA officials argued that the meeting was a diplomatic charm offensive designed to improve relations with Trump. However, Boulos later stressed that the encounter was “completely personal” and not connected to Trump.

Abbas strongly opposed Trump’s pro-Israel Middle East policies during the president’s first tenure, however, in July, Abbas condemned the assassination attempt on Trump in a formal letter. The PA leader also quickly congratulated Trump following his recent victory.

During his first U.S. presidential tenure between 2016 and 2020, Trump made several consequential decisions for Israel and the wider Middle East region. He defied international consensus by officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. He also ordered the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to its current location in Jerusalem. Furthermore, Trump recognized the strategically important Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

The decision to withdraw from the controversial nuclear agreement with Iran reflected Trump's belief that the deal was deeply flawed, favoring Tehran over Washington. Alongside this move, the Trump administration imposed maximum financial and diplomatic pressure on the ayatollah regime. In a bold military action, Trump ordered a drone strike to eliminate Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, near Baghdad on Jan. 3, 2020. Trump stated that Soleimani was planning imminent attacks on American diplomats and military personnel.

In early 2020, Abbas rejected Trump’s peace plan, which envisioned Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital and an Arab-majority state next to the Jewish state with potential land swaps.

"I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargain. And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass," Abbas said at the time.

Following the PA's rejection of Trump’s peace plan, the U.S. administration spent the remaining months in power to advance the historic regional Abraham Accords between Israel and the four Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Trump has indicated that he seeks to expand the Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords during his second presidential tenure.

During the presidential election campaign, Trump repeatedly blamed the Biden administration’s Middle East policies for the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas terrorists and the ongoing war between Israel and the Iranian-led axis.

At the time, Trump issued a barely veiled warning to the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies.

“History shows very plainly that evil only respects one thing: unyielding strength. When I’m back in the White House, our enemies will know if they spill a drop of American blood we will spill a gallon of yours,” Trump said.