Donald Trump has appointed a Lebanese billionaire who is also one of his in-laws to be a top White House adviser on the Middle East.

Massad Boulos, whose son Michael is married to Tiffany Trump, was instrumental in ramping up support for Mr Trump among the Arab-American community ahead of the US election.

He has close ties to his home country, and is likely to offer Mr Trump a link to Hezbollah, which signed a peace deal with Israel last week. Mr Trump described him as a “dealmaker” as he announced his appointment on Sunday.

Mr Boulos has previously acted as the go-between for Mr Trump and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the past, and is even said to have friends who are close to Bashar Al-Assad in Syria.

The billionaire businessman also played a pivotal role in Mr Trump’s re-election campaign, making overtures to Arab American and Muslim leaders at a time when Joe Biden had haemorrhaged support over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

He is a rare pick in Mr Trump’s inner circle who is not overtly pro-Israel.