Trump’s Africa adviser defends proposed Libyan deal: ‘Absolute partnership’

Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump’s senior Africa adviser and the father of one of Trump’s sons-in-law, on Tuesday pushed back on claims that a US plan for Libya would hand control of the country to a powerful military commander and his family.

“It’s not a dictatorship in any way,” Boulos said at Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion event in New York. “This is not about one person. It’s going to be an absolute partnership.”

Reports suggest there’s a power-sharing deal in the works under which Saddam Haftar — son of General Khalifa Haftar — would serve as president while Abdul Hamid Dbeibah would remain prime minister. Critics have called it an “elite bargain” that could backfire and undermine progress towards free elections.

Boulos said the process, which the US and partners are facilitating, aims to unify Libya before UN-brokered elections. “It’s all about unifying the institutions,” he said.

Separately, Boulos declined to confirm or deny that Washington withheld a UN General Assembly visa for Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Reuters reported Tuesday that Burhan’s visa was made contingent on his signing a US-backed 90-day ceasefire to pause the nation’s three-year civil war, which he rejected.

Boulos said the US is engaging with “both warring parties,” dealing with Sudan’s army-led government as a de facto authority without officially recognizing it while remaining “totally against any parallel governments.”

“You don’t want the Libyan scenario repeating itself in Sudan,” he said.

He called the war “the single largest humanitarian catastrophe in the world today,” noting that nearly 35 million Sudanese are in need of aid. He said the US has contributed about $3 billion in aid since fighting began in April 2023.