Donald Trump Appeals to Lebanese and Arab Voters

President-elect Donald Trump after winning the 2024 U.S. Presidential election (TGcom24).

Former President Donald Trump addressed a letter to the Lebanese-American community on October 26 promising to deliver peace and prosperity to Lebanon during his potential second term as president. In the letter, Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for the war in Lebanon, calling on Lebanese Americans to vote for him to bring peace to the region. 

The Trump campaign’s outreach toward Lebanese Americans seems to be an attempt to sway voters disillusioned by the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war in the Middle East. Arab and Muslim Americans who usually vote for Democrats, particularly in the key swing state of Michigan, have largely refused to back Kamala Harris in her presidential bid on the account that she has supported genocide in Gaza. 

Trump’s appeal to Lebanese Americans comes on the heels of his campaign’s enlistment of Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s (Donald Trump’s daughter) father-in-law, to sway voters in Michigan. 

Despite his recent efforts to appeal to voters with grievances over Israel, Trump positioned himself as a staunch defender of Israel during his first term, moving the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israeli claims to the occupied Golan Heights with no concessions from Netanyahu in return. Trump also has always and continues to take a harsher stance on Iran than his political opponents, advocating for more sanctions and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Reconciling his seemingly paradoxical support for both sides of the Middle East conflict, Trump has emphasized his commitment to peace rather than to a particular side, reminding Muslim voters in Michigan on October 18 about the region’s relative stability during his administration. Yet he has also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his handling of the conflict. 

Although 59 percent of Arab American voters turned out for Joe Biden in 2020, a poll from early October showed that only 41 percent plan to vote for Kamala Harris in 2024. Many swing states in this election have large Arab populations, with Michigan coming in at over 300,000, Virginia at over 134,000, and Pennsylvania at over 126,000. The Trump campaign’s moves to capture even a small portion of these voters could determine the outcome of the election.