In a recent interview with Newsmax, Nadim Gemayel, member of the Lebanese parliament and scion to one of his country's illustrious political families, was careful not to endorse the U.S. president for reelection.
But Gemayel, 38, left little doubt that, much like Trump himself, he has his favorite politicians in other countries.
"We feel today President Trump is engaging the region and he may change a lot by helping the peace treaty between the [United Arab] Emirates and Israel," he told us. "This is a major step toward peace in the region."
Summarizing the appeal of Trump's style in Lebanon, Gemayel said: "What [the Lebanese] really care about is deliverables. He delivers. Whatever you say, signing a peace between the Emirates and Israel is very, very big and something someone has not done in the last 25 years. A lot of [Persian] Gulf countries are coming this way also."
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When Gemayel speaks on policy and politics, Lebanon listens. His late father Bachir Gemayel is remembered as a charismatic leader who brought hope and optimism to his country only to be cut down in the prime of his life. Elected president in August 1982 as his country was occupied by Palestinians, Israelis, and Syrians, the elder Gemayel ordered the Lebanese Army to enter West Beirut and ordered Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organization to leave Lebanon.
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Both President Ronald Reagan and CIA Director William Casey saw the Lebanese president-elect as a pivotal leader in eventual peace in the Middle East.
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The younger Gemayel also singled out for praise Trump's denunciation of Hezbollah — the Islamist political party and militant group that is a pivotal political player in Beirut — as a "menace."
But Gemayel and his allies in the Kataeb Party, a Christian democratic party, still hope for more if there is to be a second Trump term.
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In his words, "[W]e believe if [Trump] could reach a point where he could pressure Iran in terms of Lebanese policy, we would appreciate that.
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The weakening of Hezbollah and its eventual political demise is a goal sought by Gemayel and his political allies.
Complete power for Hezbollah, he insists, would turn Lebanon into another Iran.
"It's not me who is saying this," he told us. Hezbollah leader Hassan "Nasrallah said it several times. He said, 'Our mentor, our ideology, and all our arms — everything comes from Iran. We are part of the Iranian Revolution.'
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Politicians who have stood up to Hezbollah have paid a price. Sunni Muslim Muhammad Chatta — economist, former ambassador to the U.S., and critic of Hezbollah — was killed in a car bombing in 2006. That same year, Gemayel's first cousin, Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel, 34, was brutally gunned down in daylight after his car stopped for a traffic light.
"Hezbollah wants to show they're in control of everything," says Nadim Gemayel about the assassinations.
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