President Donald Trump has iced out his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law Massad Boulos—rejecting his newly minted senior adviser to Africa’s request for a plane to do his job.
Boulos, who was appointed to the role in April, was supposed to take a government plane out of Joint Base Andrews for his first trip to the continent. But chief of staff Susie Wiles called him directly to tell him the White House wouldn’t foot the bill, according to Politico. He’d have to fly commercial.
Boulos is the father of Michael Boulos, whom Tiffany Trump married in 2022. A Lebanese-born American, Boulos helped campaign for Trump with Arab Americans last year, prompting the president to gift him the title of senior advisor for the Middle East during the presidential transition.
But Boulos took the job seriously and claimed to be an expert on Lebanese policy, irking those on the Trump team, according to Politico. He has since been increasingly sidelined by officials who claimed Boulos was trying to overstep his professional boundaries.
“The job was more symbolic, but he didn’t know that,” an administration official told Politico. “Everyone knew it but him.”
He saw his official remit expand last month when Trump named him senior advisor to Africa. But according to Politico, Boulos has overinflated his responsibilities to those he spoke to, including handing out business cards that simply referred to him as a “senior advisor,” exaggerating his job title, and not keeping the State Department in the loop about some meetings.
But Boulos has still tried to influence Middle East policy, regardless of whether his role allows for it, according to Politico.
“He publicly speaks on issues and topics he is not responsible for or involved in, causing confusion in the region,” the administration official told Politico. “It’s been an issue.”
A New York Times report that indicated Boulos had misled people about the source of his wealth also irked Trump officials, according to Politico. Boulos had long claimed to run a billion-dollar company, but he admitted to the Times he was referring to his father-in-law’s business, which he doesn’t operate. Instead, he sells trucks in Nigeria for his father-in-law’s business.
Boulos has gotten some praise for his work in negotiating the start of a deal to end fighting between the Congo and Rwanda, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted in a Cabinet meeting last week.
“Mr. Boulos is doing an exceptional job, as evidenced by the deal… between the DRC and Rwanda,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Politico in a statement.
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