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Summary of Massad Boulos, the recent Donald Trump to be selected as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairsis reportedly vastly overrated in the media with no apparent correction – until now.
Boulos, the Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, does not appear to be the billionaire as previously described, The New York Times published on Thursday.Instead, he is more accurately described as a “part-time truck salesman” in Nigeria, according to the paper.
Boulos is the CEO of SCOA Nigeria PLC, a company that sells trucks and heavy machinery in Nigeria and is controlled by Boulos’ father-in-law.
The company made less than $66,000 in profit last year and is valued at $865,000, according to corporate filings obtained by The Times. Boulos’ stake in the company is worth less than $2, according to records.
Trump has claimed Boulos is “an accomplished lawyer and highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the international stage,” and media reports describe Boulos as having earned a law degree from the University of Houston. The school said The Times there is no information about it.
Boulos Enterprises, which the hard-line media has pointed to in connection with Boulos, actually belongs to another family with the same last name, an official there told the paper.
When asked earlier this year if reports that his company was a “multi-billion dollar enterprise” were true, Boulos said he didn’t like to describe it that way. When pressed, he said his business was part of a “big company” that had a “long history” and could be described as such.
In an interview with time, Boulos said his father-in-law’s companies, including SCOA, are collectively worth more than $1 billion. He said he did not immediately comment on the media reports because “I’ve never gone into that kind of detail about value.”
The Independent has contacted the Trump transition team and SCOA Nigeria PLC for comment. Boulos could not be reached directly for comment.
Boulos, who helped the Trump campaign win over Arab-American voters during the election, is not the only member of the new administration to face questions about his background.
Trump’s attorney general pick Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration last month as the former congressman faced allegations that he paid for sex and had sex with a minor, which is always a strong rejected.
The administration’s choice for secretary of defense is former Fox News host Pete Hegseth the accused rape and alcohol abuse, which he denies.