Mold Remediation in Dearborn, MI

Trump won Dearborn because of the Arab American votes. Now, they're asking him for a ceasefire.

Two weeks ago, Arab Americans and others warmly greeted Donald Trump when he visited a halal cafe in Dearborn during the final days of his campaign to drum up support in the city with the highest percentage of Middle Eastern residents in the United States. Trump would win the city and Michigan a few days later.

Now, some of the people who helped host the Dearborn visit are asking the president-elect to push for a ceasefire in the Middle East. In a letter sent to Trump after his election victory, Lebanese Americans in Dearborn are asking Trump "to apply your political influence in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and Palestine," saying it aligns with an earlier promise Trump made calling for a "lasting peace."

The letter was signed by Faye Nemer, CEO and founder of the Dearborn-based MENA (Middle Eastern North African) American Chamber of Commerce, and Albert Abbas, the Lebanese community liaison for the chamber. Nemer and Abbas both attended the Trump campaign event on Nov. 1, which featured Abbas, a brother of the cafe's owner, standing alongside Trump as he spoke in support of him.

Trump has made some cabinet picks over the past week that have concerned Arab Americans, such as Mike Huckabee for ambassador to Israel, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, for secretary of state. Community advocates worry the nominees will be dismissive of the concerns of Palestinians, Lebanese and other Arabs. Huckabee, for example, once said "there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian," CNN reported this week. Some Arab American activists are calling for Trump to appoint Richard Grenell, his former acting director of national intelligence, to a security position. Grenell visited metro Detroit often this year to meet with Arab Americans and encourage them to vote for Trump.

The letter from the Dearborn leaders starts by congratulating him on his victory and notes that Arab Americans in metro Detroit helped Trump win.

"We congratulate you on your historic return to the White House," reads the letter, dated Nov. 8. "Dearborn, Michigan, a city with the highest concentration of Arab Americans outside the Middle East, turned red (Republican) in this presidential election due to your genuine outreach to our community and our belief that you are the optimal choice for our democracy, economy, and in matters of foreign policy."

The letter referenced a wooden plaque shaped like the state of Michigan with a quote from President Ronald Reagan about peace that Abbas presented to Trump during his visit to the cafe. Trump signed other similar plaques for the cafe.

More:Arab American precincts in Wayne County rejected Kamala Harris

"We are urging your administration and transition team to apply your political influence in demanding an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and Palestine," the letter reads. "This aligns to the commitment toward lasting peace which you made in the letter and in person while signing the Peace Plaques."

The letter also asked Trump to appoint "a chief negotiator with the Lebanese government."

The largest ethnic group in Dearborn's Arab American population are Lebanese Americans, many of whom have family members and friends affected by Israel's attacks in recent months in Lebanon. Israel maintains it's defending itself from attacks by Hezbollah, a political party and militant group in Lebanon labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S.

"We also want to highlight that an equitable and unconditioned ceasefire would serve as a catalyst for all parties to negotiate a lasting peace — as evidenced by historical precedent, without a ceasefire, diplomacy becomes illusive," the letter said.

Despite the letter, Trump has not publicly called for a ceasefire or criticized Israel for its recent attacks, which have continued in Gaza and Lebanon over the past week.

Arab Americans helped arrange Trump's Dearborn visit

The Nov. 1 event with Trump in Dearborn came about after an Oct. 23 meeting at the MENA Chamber office in Dearborn with Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, Nemer said. Boulos has visited metro Detroit often in recent months to campaign for Trump among Arab American voters. At the end of the meeting, Abbas extended an invitation to Trump visit Dearborn on Nov. 1.

Lebanese Americans asked Trump's campaign team for Trump to send them a letter calling for peace in Lebanon, which he sent on Oct. 26 and tweeted on Oct. 30.

"I will fix the problems caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon," Trump said in his tweet and the letter, which was shared with the Free Press by Nemer. "I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace, and we will get it done properly so it doesn’t repeat itself every 5 or 10 years! You have my word. I will preserve the equal partnership among all Lebanese communities. Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity, and harmony with their neighbors, and that can only happen with peace and stability in the Middle East. ... Vote Trump for Peace!"

The letter and tweet appear to be the same, but the sentence "You have my word" is not in the tweet.

After the election, Arab American advocates urged Trump to select Grenell as secretary of state instead of Rubio, whose pick was revealed Monday by The New York Times. Grenell has more of “a non interventionist tone,” Abed Ayoub, a Dearborn native who is national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told the Free Press earlier this week. “Changing foreign policy is what the community voted on,” Ayoub said, while Rubio is “just a continuation of the Biden foreign policy."

Grenell appeared to be well-received among local Arab Americans during his visits. At an event before the election, a group of Yemeni American leaders in Michigan gifted him a traditional Yemeni dagger, called a jambiya, wrapping it around his waist as a sign of respect towards him.

Nemer said that the vision of people like Huckabee clash with Trump's message of peace.

"Mike Huckabee ... doesn't believe Palestinians exist and does not believe in the existence of Palestine as a state, which is extremely controversial for someone in that position," Nemer said. "I understand that he's ambassador to Israel, and that may appease individuals with radical views in Israel. But you also need to send a message to the entire Middle Eastern region ... as well as your supporters here, a lot of whom switched parties in order to create this momentum of individuals that voted in support of his message of peace."

Nemer said they have not received a response yet from the Trump transition team, but plan to follow up through their contacts.

A separate letter was sent to Biden on Nov. 11 co-signed by Nemer's group, the MENA Chamber, Ayoub's group, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and several other groups that urged Biden "to hold Israel accountable to U.S. law, ending arms sales to Israel to protect U.S. interests, achieve a ceasefire, protect civilians, increase aid access in Gaza, secure the release of the hostages, and work towards a stable future for the region."

Biden tweeted Thursday that "the United States’ commitment to Israel is ironclad" after meeting earlier this week with Israeli president Isaac Herzog.

Letter from Donald Trump to Lebanese Americans

Letter from MENA American Chamber of Commerce to Donald Trump

Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo

Donald Trump is set to visit Dearborn, Michigan — the nation's largest Arab-majority city — on Friday, according to a local business owner who first insisted the former president call for peace in Lebanon before hosting him.

Metro Detroit is home to the nation's largest concentration of Arab Americans, with a large chunk of them living in Dearborn. The city — which President Joe Biden won by a 3-to-1 margin — has been roiled by political turmoil, with many upset with the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

While Vice President Kamala Harris has been working through surrogates to ease community tensions, Trump's visit will mark the first by either candidate, according to a local leader, Osama Siblani. Earlier this year, Harris met with the city's Democratic mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, though their discussion took place outside Dearborn.

Employees of The Great Commoner in Dearborn confirmed to CBS News Detroit that Trump was set to visit the restaurant.

The Trump campaign declined to comment on the visit. It follows Trump's rally in Michigan last week when he brought local Muslims up onstage with him. Trump has also received endorsements from two Democratic mayors of Muslim-majority cities. The former president is also holding a rally in Warren at Macomb Community College at 4:30 p.m. The former president previously hosted a town hall at the college in September.

While many Democratic leaders in the community have not endorsed Harris, they are still deeply negative toward Trump and say his endorsements don't reflect a majority of the community. They also remember his call for a "total and complete shutdown" on Muslims entering the country and his travel restrictions on visitors from Muslim-majority countries. And some point out that Trump has suggested he would give Israel even more leeway to attack its rivals in the region.

Even so, Democrats worry that traditionally loyal voters may shift to Trump or third-party candidates like Jill Stein — or skip the top of the ballot altogether. This could prove pivotal in Michigan, a state both parties see as a toss-up.

Sam Abbas, owner of The Great Commoner, said Trump allies had reached out to him several weeks ago about hosting Trump in Dearborn. Before hosting Trump, Abbas said he wanted to see a statement from Trump that he said showed Trump "has the intentions of ending the war and helping us rebuild Lebanon and helping the displaced and the injured."

That statement came Wednesday when Trump posted on X that he wanted to "stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon."

"I will preserve the equal partnership among all Lebanese communities," Trump said on X. "Your friends and family in Lebanon deserve to live in peace, prosperity, and harmony with their neighbors, and that can only happen with peace and stability in the Middle East."

Once Trump put out the statement, Abbas said he agreed to host the event. He expects close to 100 people from the community.

"He's coming to us to basically tell us, look, I did what you guys asked. My intentions, my true intentions are to bring peace and to end the war," said Abbas.