Muslim supporters of President-elect Donald Trump have expressed deep disappointment with his cabinet selections, according to US Muslim leaders interviewed by Reuters. These leaders are protesting the administration’s pro-Israel stance, including its support for Israel’s war in Gaza and attacks on Lebanon.
“Trump won because of us, and we are not happy with his choices for secretary of state and other positions,” said Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump.
Muslim support for Trump was a key factor in helping him win Michigan and may have contributed to victories in other swing states, strategists say.
For secretary of state, Trump chose Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel. Rubio has stated he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza and believes Israel should destroy “every element” of Hamas, referring to its members as “wild animals.”
Trump also nominated former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a pro-Israel conservative, as the next ambassador to Israel. Huckabee has voiced support for Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and has dismissed the two-state solution as “unworkable.”
Additionally, Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who has called the UN a “cesspool of anti-Semitism,” was selected as the US ambassador to the UN.
Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN), stated that Muslim voters had hoped Trump would appoint cabinet members committed to peace, but so far, there are no signs of that. “We are disappointed,” Nazarko said, adding that the new administration appears filled with “neo-conservatives” and “extremely pro-Israel, pro-war individuals.” Nazarko emphasized that the community would continue to push for an end to the war in Gaza.
Hassan Abdel Salam, a former University of Minnesota professor and co-founder of the Abandon Harris campaign, said that while Trump’s staffing plans were unsurprising, they are proving “more extreme” than he feared. “Obviously, we’re still waiting to see where the administration goes, but it looks like our community has been played,” Salam said.
Some Muslim and Arab Trump supporters had hoped that Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, would play a key role. Grenell had spent months reaching out to Muslim and Arab American communities, even being introduced at events as a potential secretary of state.
Another notable Trump ally, Massad Boulos—the Lebanese father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany—has also met repeatedly with Arab American and Muslim leaders. Both Grenell and Boulos had promised these communities that Trump was a peace candidate who would act swiftly to end wars in the Middle East and beyond.
Trump made several visits to cities with large Arab-American and Muslim populations, including Dearborn, Michigan, where he expressed his affection for Muslims, and Pittsburgh, where he called Muslims a “beautiful movement.”
Mayor Bill Bazzi of neighboring Dearborn Heights, a Trump supporter, stated that he had met the president-elect three times and still believed Trump would work to end the war, despite his cabinet appointments.
Rola Makki, the Lebanese-American Muslim vice chair of the Michigan Republican Party’s outreach arm, agreed. “I don’t think everyone will be happy with every appointment Trump makes, but the end result is what matters,” Makki said.
