Secretary of State Marco Rubio brought a “good friend” along to a high-level meeting with UAE officials: President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Michael Boulos, the husband of Tiffany Trump, sat next to the Secretary of State during a meeting with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on Wednesday.
Rubio said in a social media post that they discussed Trump’s peace deal with Iran, transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the stability of the Middle East.
“I thanked the UAE leadership for their unparalleled support, praised their courage and resilience in the face of Iran’s attacks, and reaffirmed our commitment to Emirati security and to our strong bilateral partnership,” he wrote.
A photo posted by Rubio, 55, showed Boulos, 28, smiling next to him as they sat across Emirati officials.
The state secretary later told reporters that Boulas “was just here because his brother lives here, and I’m a good friend of Michael, so we had a chance to catch up,” The Wall Street Journal’s Vera Bergengruen reported.
Boulos married Tiffany, the president’s daughter from his second wife, Marla Maples, in 2022. The couple shares one son who was born last year.
In April, Rubio and Boulos were part of Trump’s posse when he attended a UFC match in Miami, Florida.
Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman, is no stranger to the world of diplomacy. He is the son of Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs.
Just last month, Boulos and Tiffany met with Sergio Gor, the U.S. Ambassador to India, on a trip that the president’s second daughter described as a “dream come true.”
A New York Times report last year found that Boulos’ family and their associates quickly saw their financial fortunes rise after he asked for Tiffany’s hand in marriage in 2021.
The first deal involved Jared Kushner, the husband of Ivanka Trump and a senior adviser to the president.
Boulos, who at the time was working for his cousin’s yacht brokerage, pitched Kushner an investment in a 50-meter superyacht. Kushner took the offer without knowing that the firm had overcharged him by $2.5 million.
A spokesperson for Boulos and Tiffany told the Times that he received only a prenegotiated finder’s fee in the yacht deal and had since ended his business ties to his cousin Jimmy Frangi, the yacht broker.
“Mr. Boulos is proud of and honored by his close, familial relationship with Mr. Kushner,” the spokesperson said.
